


Every Story Ever Told

by Rearviewdreamer



Series: Every Story Universe [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Can you tell?, Hate to Love, I still hate tagging, Let's just pretend Twitter works the way I said it does for the purpose of this story, M/M, There are wedding cakes involved, Writer Louis, harry is a baker, louis is a best-selling author, twitter au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:08:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4464896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rearviewdreamer/pseuds/Rearviewdreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Becoming a best-selling author isn’t as difficult as Louis would have guessed. It seems all you need these days is the perfect blend of alcohol induced philosophy, complete disregard for one’s dignity, a live blog about how fucked love is, and a bored publisher interested enough to offer him a deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Every Story Ever Told](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256330) by [stylezluuving](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylezluuving/pseuds/stylezluuving)



Louis can feel that slight tremble of familiar nerves settling into his fingers as the shop owner gives  him and his book an introduction that he’s about eighty percent sure that Niall dictated. He leans forward a few inches to peek out at the crowd and sees his touring assistant wearing a proud smile when the woman in front of the podium explains how Louis’ fresh perspective on love has captivated readers from all corners of the world. Niall gives him a quick wave of enthusiasm when the woman starts reading off every single radio and television appearance Louis has made within the last year, and Louis is now about ninety-eight percent sure that Niall wrote it all, even down to the part where the woman calls him a literary inspiration.

 _Hardly_.

She wraps it up after giving a quick report on the amount of copies sold. The crowd’s applause reminds Louis that he’s supposed to start moving. The woman’s kind face welcomes him as she shakes his hand and presents him to the people all staring up at Louis with admiration, which personally Louis feels is wildly misguided at times.

These little book shop appearances have been like something close to torture each time Louis has had to stand in front of his fans and spout off random assortments of his own thoughts as sound advice.  He has been all over the country to more lecture halls and books shops than even Niall can keep track of. The prospect of travelling all over was way more exciting at the beginning of his success, but now that the tour’s almost at an end, Louis can hardly wait until this very last signing session is over and done with.

He clears his throat and smiles just like he always does. He beams out at the crowd of a little more than one hundred or so, thanking them as he gears up for another quick reading, followed by a question and answer session. He wastes no time getting started.

“I want to thank everyone who showed up early to the signing, as well as the people at the back of the room who clearly couldn’t be arsed and have only just arrived. Cheers for that.”

Laughter flows through the room as he fondly smirks at the latecomers all smushed up behind the people who got there early enough to get a seat. He waits until the crowd has finished gushing over how funny he is before resuming. They don’t know that he starts nearly every one of his readings with a joke very similar to that one.

“I’m only joking of course,” he reassures them. “I appreciate all of my readers, even the ones who never learned to read the time from a clock face.” Another wave of laughter. Niall smiles his approval from the front row and encourages him to continue. “But seriously. All jokes aside, I really must explain how grateful I am for my readers, all of whom help me to remember the reason I wrote this book to begin with. I want to thank each and every one of you, because by showing your support you’ve proven to me that I wasn’t alone in feeling like a failure at love. I wasn’t alone in feeling like I was missing something that the rest of the world had, and because of that, I want you to know that you’re not alone either.”

The room, once bright with laughter only seconds ago has now been blanketed by a deep, reflective silence. It’s eerie almost, the weird feeling of mutual respect from everyone in the crowd having had their hearts broken and having confirmation from actual Louis Tomlinson that they aren’t as isolated as they had once thought.

Niall shoots him a sneaky thumbs-up at the sobered reaction Louis’ words produced. His readers would probably feel a lot less validated if they knew that Louis wasn’t even the one who crafted that little preamble.  It was Niall.

He begins telling his story. The same drab little tale about all of his past relationships and his ex-fiancé, Isaac (not-so-cleverly renamed and referred to as Prince Charming in his book), as he quickly recounts bits and pieces of their relationship that were once so beautiful and perfect that Louis never could have imagined them imploding from within. Louis tells them how gloriously happy he was, and how just like many times before when he thought, _yes, this is it_ ; _this is my happily ever after,_ he had been absolutely and completely dead wrong.

Louis digs in his pocket for his glasses, placing them on the bridge of his nose. He opens up the copy of _The Fairytale Complex: The Truth about True Love_ and turns to a page in the first chapter that Niall flagged for him to read. He pauses for dramatic effect, and the room goes completely silent.

_“It took months of me dissecting each aspect of what Charming and I had together before my memory became so cloudy that I could hardly remember the reasons I once believed us to be happy. I didn’t know exactly how our relationship had failed, but the only thing I could focus on was that it had._

_If I concentrated really hard I could still see Charming and I somehow reconciling and living our happily ever after, even long after I knew it was truly over between us. He was the One, or so I thought. I kept wishing and kept hoping, because in fairytales the main character and the One always end up together, right? I kept hoping and kept waiting, until one day I woke up and realized that my optimism, that belief in finding the one person meant for me was exactly what was wrong._

_People entertain themselves with stories about true love their entire lives,_ _only to find that once we’ve all grown up,_ _the fairy tale has become so warped and twisted that multiple Prince Charmings end up taking center stage and waltzing through our lives, leaving nothing but broken hearts and feelings of disappointment in their wake._

_I promised myself to stop. I made the conscious decision to stop feeding into the lies and to stop believing in the fantasy that society has crafted, because accepting reality as a place where sometimes the One doesn’t exist seems a lot more logical than trying to reach a standard of true love that can never be achieved outside of a children’s storybook.”_

They clap for him when he’s finished picking at his own wounds, only to stitch them back up again with his own logic and twisted philosophies about love. His eyes scan the room to meet the gazes of a few people sitting in the audience who light up at being acknowledged by him. Louis turns his attention to the back of room to make sure he isn’t leaving anyone out and nods his thanks at them too.

He’s feeling pretty good when he gets a grin from one reader clutching a copy of Louis’ book to his chest like a lifeline. Louis grins back at him, hoping to make the day of at least one person who came to see him. The man blushes at the last minute before he looks away and down at his feet. He doesn’t look back up, so Louis turns his attention to the tall, dark haired man at his side who meets Louis’ eyes with so much detest that Louis ends up being the one who blushes before looking away.

Louis makes sure to thank them all again before swiftly moving into the question and answer segment. Dozens of hands go flying into the air when Louis opens the floor for discussion. He has no system for whom he chooses to call on. Niall always tells him to try and get a wide range of people, so he picks a woman towards the front of the audience who looks to be in her late thirties or early forties. Louis figures that’s a good place to start.

She stands, a nervous laugh falling from her lips as she looks around and sees everyone’s eyes now on her. Louis encourages her with a kind smile. “Hello, Louis. I loved every word of your book, and I think it was extremely brave to put yourself and your love life out there…you’ve helped so many people. I was just wondering what gave you the push to do it?”

Vodka mostly. Vodka and his fuck everyone attitude as he sat in front of his laptop ranting about how dumb love was after Isaac left him for somebody else. Louis doesn’t say any of that of course. “I could see more and more people were following my updates online about how I was coping with my failed relationship. I didn’t actually plan on writing a book until someone suggested that I give it a go. It has helped a lot of people, so I’m glad that I took that chance.”

Niall winks at him and Louis has to actively force himself to not roll his eyes. He remembers those early conversations Niall had with him back when he discovered Louis’ self-help blog by accident. He emailed Louis and said that minus all the swearing and name calling, Louis had a fan base and a product that could really be something with the right marketing and publisher behind it. Niall asked if any other publishing companies had made offers, made an offer of his own, and Louis pretty much stopped questioning it after Niall sent him an estimation of how much money they could make just from pre-orders alone.

He calls on a man who looks to be about fifty, and then on a woman who looks to be about the same age. He tries to hit all the target demographics within the twenty minute time block, and by the time it’s nearly over Louis can practically taste the end of his book tour and feel the sweet dip of his mattress beneath his back, knowing he’ll finally get some time off.

He gets asked the same questions as usual; Different variations of: Do you ever talk to Prince Charming anymore? Did you know that your writing debut would be such a success? Or his personal least favorite, Have you decided when you’re going to release your second book? All of these questions and more get thrown his way, all of which are answered by different, kinder variations of _fuck no_.

Louis is just about to shut the event down and tell everyone goodnight when a deep voice from the back of the room catches everyone’s attention. “Do you really think it’s fair for you to criticize people who are in loving relationships based purely on the fact that you’re not?”

The question causes the crowd to look around for the source. Even Niall’s eyebrows shoot up as he swivels around to see who would ask something like that without even being called on. Louis doesn’t have to search the crowd long before he sees him, the same tall man with dark hair falling in soft curls around his shoulders and a gaze so fierce and disgusted that it makes Louis want to look away again.

Louis has dealt with people like this before. They just want attention.

“I never criticized people who are happy,” Louis tells him. The shorter man beside Louis’ challenger, presumably his friend, continues to clutch onto Louis’ book, looking between Louis and the man in complete mortification like a child watching his parents argue in a department store. “Honestly, people who are truly happy probably wouldn’t even pick my book up off the shelf. They have no reason to.”

The man scoffs at Louis’ defense. “But you’re telling people who aren’t in happy relationships that they can’t be, because in your opinion true love doesn’t exist. You can’t base the concept of love or soulmates off of one man’s opinion.”

Louis is a little shocked by how determined this man is to derail his signing. He’s had people dispute him before, but never so publicly. Never at a signing where people have waited to see him. Usually criticizers wait until they can target Louis online, in the safety of their own homes. Louis doesn’t wait for Niall to give him cues on what to say when he takes a deep breath. “People don’t have to listen to me, you know. I’m not _forcing_ anyone to buy my book or read it.”

The man doesn’t back down. “Yeah, but you’re not exactly _helping_ the people who do buy it by essentially telling them that they have no hope.”

Louis laughs to himself, nervous with so many eyes darting back and forth between him and the very opinionated man at the back of the room. He doesn’t see how he can win this one.

This time he does wait for Niall’s discreet shake of his head telling him to end it. “Well,” Louis grins tightly, “We’ll just agree to disagree, mate. We’re not going to convince each other of anything here, so let’s just leave it?”

The taller man looks like he’s about to start in on him again, but then he glances over at the pleading expression on his friend’s face and he immediately deflates. Louis expects the tall man to nod or at least agree to drop it, but he doesn’t do anything except stare at Louis like a piece of filth on the bottom of his shoe.

A few readers come up and shake his hand after Louis tells them all goodnight. The room is mostly empty when Louis takes a seat in one of the vacant chairs. He’s already shrugging out of his stiff jacket when Niall comes over to congratulate him.

“Louis! Mate, that was one of the best readings I’ve heard you give this whole tour!” he says, reaching out to fold up Louis’ jacket.

Louis gives him a tired grin. “Thanks, Horan.”

“Really, you did _so_ well! And the way you handled that asshole from earlier, that was…”

Niall doesn’t get to finish telling Louis how great he handled that asshole from earlier because that very asshole along with his nervous little friend are standing right in front of them.

Niall tries really hard to look like he wasn’t just about to talk pure shit about them, but Louis can tell that he’s embarrassed. He immediately dismisses himself to walk over to the shop owner rather than standing in the awkward air he created.

“Hello boys,” Louis sits up a little straighter in his chair to greet them. The one with a death grip on Louis’ book smiles back. His rude, exceptionally tall, and curly haired friend swiftly looks away and starts messing with his phone like Louis never said a word. Good. Louis has nothing to say to him anyway.

“Hi, Louis.” The man takes a step closer to shake his hand. “I’m Liam, and this is Harry,” he looks at Louis with apologetic eyes when he introduces his friend who is still ignoring everything going on around him.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Louis catches Harry’s eyes quickly glance in his direction. “What can I do for you?”

Louis waits with kind eyes as Liam works through his nerves. “I really enjoyed everything you said tonight, and the reading was wonderful….It’s like you said, a few months ago I wouldn’t have even picked your book up-”

“Never should’ve in my opinion.” The comment gets murmured into the air, so soft that it almost goes unheard. Both Louis and Liam turn to Harry who just continues to innocently scroll through his phone like he never said anything at all.

Liam sighs, giving Louis another look of apology. “ _Anyway_ , I had never read an autobiography/self-help book before, but then my girlfriend broke up with me and I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I read your book and I honestly couldn’t put it down. I just wanted to thank you.” He looks around at the floor, his nerves only slightly diminished now that he’s said what he wanted.

Louis feels like a liar most days of his life, but every now and then a fan will make his day by telling Louis just how much his book means to them. His smile is genuine when he thanks Liam. “I’m so glad to hear that. Really, Liam, thank you.”

Louis can’t imagine why he’s interested, but he chances a peek over at Harry who indiscreetly rolls his eyes at their conversation. Louis rolls his in response.

“Um, Louis?” Liam asks, slightly rocking onto his heels as his grip tightens around the book in his hands. “We kind of got lost trying to find this place so I didn’t make it in time for the signing…” Liam pushes the book out a bit further from his body, “I know I’m being a bother, but would you mind?”

He feels Harry’s eyes on him, turning to observe Louis’ interaction with his friend like he may launch an attack if Louis says no.

Louis takes the book, his smile painfully obliging as Harry watches him flip to the inside cover. Harry may think he’s a shit writer, but he’ll be dammed if he thinks Louis is ungrateful to his readers. “Of course, Liam. I’d be honored.”

They stand in awkward silence for a few seconds as Louis looks up at Liam in expectance.

“Oh,” Liam frowns a bit, “I haven’t exactly got a pen on me.”

“That’s alright,” Louis digs into the pockets of his folded blazer and comes up short. He stands to pat at the pockets of his fitted slacks and again, nothing. He turns a full three hundred and sixty degrees, his eyes on every surface of the room and still doesn’t find one. Shit.

Harry smirks from where he’s standing. “All those great philosophies and not one pen.”

He wishes he could drown Harry.

“Niall!”

His tour assistant pops his head up from where he was messing with his phone at the back of the room. “Yeah?” he asks weakly, probably wanting nothing more than to stay clear of the pair in front of Louis.

“Pen please?”

He comes trudging up, holding one out for him to grab. He nods at the two men watching him and then scurries off again.

“Alright!” Louis sits back down and reopens the book to the inside cover. “Is there anyone or anything specific you want?”

Liam shakes his head, “No, no. It’s just for me, so whatever you want is fine.”

“Okay,” Louis starts writing. “ _To Liam_ …”

“Payne.”

“ _To Liam Payne_ ,” Louis resumes. “ _Hope you find what you’re looking for each time you open this book. -Much love, Louis Tomlinson_.”

Generally, Louis just writes his signature, but his mushy inscription is worth it when Liam’s face brightens. “Thank you so much!” he says, taking the book back and reading over the inside. It’s like he can’t believe the words are really there. Louis thinks he’s done a fabulous job enriching the lives of his readers tonight.

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, that’s everything I think.” He quickly shakes Louis’ hand, thanking him again. “It was such a pleasure, really.” Harry scoffs under his breath at that, but doesn’t comment. Louis pretends he didn’t hear it when the two men turn to leave.

“Have a nice night!” Louis calls out to them.

Liam turns to wish him a good night as well. The man at his side doesn’t even bother looking in Louis’ direction as he throws up a lazy hand in some half-assed wave. Louis lets out a low, irritated snarl when the door shuts behind them.

“That guy was a fucking dick,” he yells, standing completely shocked at how purposefully rude people can be.

Niall looks a lot less inclined to gossip this time when he walks up. “Yeah, he kind of was.”

“Like, people are pricks online and in magazines and shit, but this bloke…” Louis throws his hands up, speechless. “He’s fucking bold, right?”

Niall nods his agreement. “Yeah. Something tells me he’s not your biggest fan…”

Louis doesn’t care if he hates his book. Louis has millions of other people who love it. Those same millions of people also happen to love _him._ They shouldn’t, but that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is how rude that man was to his face. He had no right.

Louis feels himself getting way too worked up about it so he forces himself to calm down and take a deep breath. He’s quiet for about a full minute and then he accidentally thinks about the condescending bastard and gets annoyed all over again. “ _Fuck_ that guy,” he says one more time just because he feels like it.


	2. Chapter 2

His bed is the best welcome home present he’s ever had when he’s finally able to crawl into it. Louis was certain that nothing could keep him from his much deserved hibernation after his tour wrapped, so he’s completely gutted when he wakes up early the next morning almost as exhausted as he was before he went to sleep.

Niall had talked his ear off the whole ride from the signing to Louis’ flat, the whole time pulling up emails from his publisher asking for tentative dates for the rough draft of Louis’ second book.

He tried to ignore it, telling himself that he’d get to answering his bosses when he found time to actually sit down and write the damned book, but the damage had already been done once Louis dragged himself out of the car, and now the pressure was real; the pressure of writing a second book good enough to rival the sales of his first book, when his first book was written over a series of intoxicated typing rants, mixed in with a few paragraphs about how fucked up society has made people.

Louis rolls out of bed, tired and more than a little annoyed that he spent the night tossing and turning about the lies he’s been telling his publisher about being halfway finished with his draft. He hasn’t even fucking started it, and what makes matters worse is having assholes like that idiot from his signing who think they know _everything_ and love to give their opinion _about_ everything to anyone who will listen.

He had been on his way to the kitchen to find something caffeinated but he gets sidetracked by his own thoughts and ends up planted right in front of his laptop instead.

He waves his mouse over the document that has been as blank and white as snow for months. He lets it close again, ignoring all sensible logic of actually starting his book and opening Twitter instead. He doesn’t even realize he’s searching for Harry until he types it in.

His efforts get him nowhere of course because apparently Harry is a very popular name, and also because there are pages and pages of accounts that Louis refuses to sit there and scroll through. He tries a different approach. He stares at the screen for a long time trying to remember the name of the other man. The fact that Louis can remember the person who hates him over the fan who loves him should point out some very specific flaws in Louis’ fucked up brain. It takes him a moment of vaguely scrawling names into the air with his eyes closed as he tries to recall the name, and then finally it hits him. _Liam_.

Louis does a similar search for Liam only to come up with the same results. It’s then that he forces his tired brain to remember the last name that goes along with it.

He types in Liam Payne and to his delight, only a few accounts show up, one of which already follows Louis, and is displaying a picture of a familiar man smiling on a pier in front of a sunset. He clicks on his profile. Liam Payne, twenty-seven, works in a bakery in the city. Louis is flattered when he sees that Liam’s last few tweets have been about his signing. His most recent is a photo of Louis’ inscription on the inside of the cover of his book. Louis clicks follow without a second thought and tweets him about how nice it was to meet him.

Louis smiles, knowing that will have made Liam’s day and probably his entire year, and then quickly moves on to the actual target, his dick of a friend.

He goes through Liam’s few followers until he finds Harry’s profile. There’s a picture of him wearing a chef’s hat smeared with colorful icing that is also globbed all over his fingers and face as he smiles into the camera. His bio reads, ‘ _Life’s what you bake of it,’_ and Louis has to pause and breathe for a moment, because Harry had the nerve to criticize his writing when his cleverest pun is about fucking pastries.  

There’s a link for the bakery’s website that Louis doesn’t even bat an eye at. He clicks follow, noticing that Harry has a hell of a lot more followers than Liam, and finds himself wondering how that could be possible when Liam seemed like the kindest person he’d ever met.

Against his better judgement, Louis scrolls down a very scary journey into Harry’s mind as he reads through his tweets. There’s cats. Lots of them. There’s also a fair amount of dogs, but the cats are definitely winning. He tweets about his friends and his family and normal stuff like that, but then he also tweets random shit like, ‘ _That feeling when you nearly singe off all your facial hair in the oven. #bakerproblems.’_ Harry doesn’t even _have_ facial hair. Louis gets into more bizarre territory when he finds one from nearly a month ago that reads, _‘I never think I'm scared of the dark until I have to piss at 3am.’_ Louis cracks a smile because that one is actually funny. He will never admit that out loud of course, but whatever.

*

Louis tries to pretend like it doesn’t bother him, but nearly four hours have passed and Harry still hasn’t followed him back. He had gotten a response from Liam almost as soon as he had tweeted him, and yeah, he knows Harry isn’t the biggest fan of his writing, but generally people break their necks for the chance to be followed by a verified account. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit offended that Harry doesn’t seem to give two shits.

Another couple of hours pass, and still, nothing. Louis checks about a hundred more times before dinner and there is still no reaction from him at all, but the fucker did hop on to tweet another video of a fucking cat like his profile isn’t already bursting with them.

It’s close to midnight when Louis finally cracks as he’s hidden under his covers with his phone. He knows it’s probably not the most dignified way to get Harry’s attention, but he direct messages him anyway.  ‘ _I realize manners aren’t your strong suit, but it’s considered quite rude to blatantly ignore people.’_

Louis sends it, regretting it as soon as he does, because honestly, what difference does it make if Harry is ignoring him. He made it perfectly clear that he thinks Louis’ book is a pile of shit, so why does he care so much? Why did he get under Louis’ skin so much more than all the other people who also hate his book? Louis has no idea, but it bothers him, and because Harry is a prick he waits an entire half hour before replying.

 _‘Why did you follow me?_ ’

_‘Idk. Maybe I wanted to send you a copy of my book so you can have a more informed opinion of it.’_

Harry’s response comes quick this time. ‘ _I think I’ve got enough toilet rolls, I don’t need any more, thanks._ ’

And _wow._ That was really mean for someone who supposedly loves kittens and sunshine as much as Harry’s Twitter suggests. _‘I don’t get it. Why are you so against my writing? It’s not like it’s hurting you in any way.’_

_‘I already told you what I think of your writing. Believe it or not, there are some people who actually don’t want to kiss your ass.’_

Louis stares at the screen of his phone, speechless. Maybe he underestimated Harry, because Louis thought for sure that he would change his tune once there was no audience of fans around to gawk at his brashness. People are rude over the internet because they think they’re anonymous. It seems Harry dislikes him no matter the circumstances.

‘ _Okay, you hate me then. No way around it. Have a good night.’_

Louis is about to close out the app when he gets another message.

‘ _I don’t hate you but I do hate the way you make love sound like some urban myth or something. You could be using your influence to show people ways to live better or to take care of themselves so they can one day have a strong, loving relationship that lasts, but instead you’re telling people to say fuck it, because according to you, none of it is real anyway. It’s awful.’_

Louis has never thought of his book that way. He knows it’s not Shakespeare or anything, but he didn’t think it was all that horrible. When he wrote it, Louis was just sharing his honest opinions, saying exactly what he felt when he woke up one day and found himself bitter and alone with no Isaac and no future. It’s not Louis’ fault that other people sometimes feel the same way and want someone to relate to.

Louis closes the app without replying. He doesn’t have to justify himself if he doesn’t want to.

He isn’t sure what exactly he was hoping to get from talking to Harry in the first place, but something he said must’ve really hit home because he pulls up the blank document on his screen, and for the first time since he titled it _Book Two_ all those months ago, Louis finds that he’s actually typing words.

_“Even scarier than realizing the fantasy doesn’t exist is the realization that you now have to live with it.”_

He’s exhausted. It may not make sense, but at least it’s _something_.

_*_

Louis finds another message from Harry when he gets on Twitter the next day.

‘ _Sorry if I hurt your feelings. That really wasn’t my intention. I hope your second book is a bit more positive than the last. Good luck with sales. Goodbye.’_

Louis stares at it for a long time. He knows he should just leave it, but his pride won’t let him.

_‘But have you ever actually read the book?’_

_‘I’ve glanced at it.’_

Louis rolls his eyes. That’s the fucking problem right there. Harry’s criticizing something he hasn’t even properly read. ‘ _Of course you did_. _Give me an address I can send a copy to.’_

_‘I appreciate it. But really, no thanks.’_

_‘Just let me send the damn book.’_ Louis snaps _. ‘It’s the least you could do after insulting me all this time.’_

He gets nothing in return. Fine. Whatever. It’s not like Louis actually cares if Harry Styles the fucking baker approves of his writing or not, and oh yeah. He’s a baker. Bakers work in bakeries, and bakeries have addresses.

That website link Louis previously ignored under his bio is his only focus when he clicks on it. A new tab opens, and Louis is immediately hit with understanding as he realizes the main reason Harry hates him so much. He and Liam don’t just work in a bakery; they own it. And they don’t just sit around tossing croissants into the oven; they design and bake custom wedding cakes.

Wedding cakes _. Weddings._ One of the most commercialized and contrived ceremonies ever known to man. People pour all of their money into the belief that their special day has to reach an expectation of pure perfection year after overpriced year. No wonder Harry despises his book, urging people not to buy into the fairytale. It’s in direct competition with his fucking _business_.

If Louis wasn’t determined to get his book into Harry’s hands before, he damn sure is now as he searches through the site for an address. He smiles when he finds one.

Louis hadn’t exactly planned on coming out of hibernation just yet, but this new development in the Harry Styles plot forces him up and out of his flat, stopping only to grab a brand new, unopened copy of his book as he leaves. He takes the time to hastily jot down a few lines in a card, and within half an hour _The Fairytale Complex: The Truth about True Love_ is in the post, headed straight for H &L Creative Cakes. Louis smirks the entire way home as he imagines Harry’s face when he gets it.


	3. Chapter 3

Niall gives Louis four of the seven days he requested for sleeping slash writing purposes before calling him up. Louis answers with his face down in his pillow.

“Hello Niall.”

“Hey Lou! You sound really well rested today.” Louis can’t tell whether or not that’s supposed to be sarcasm. He literally just climbed into his bed and it’s half past noon. “How’s hibernation?”

“Oh, you know….it’s good. My bed missed me. I missed it.”

Niall laughs at that. “I’m glad the two of you have been reunited. I’m sure your rough draft missed you too since you were so busy during the tour…how’s that coming?”

Louis lets his face sink into his mattress as he listens to Niall fish for details about his book. “Yeah. I’ve been getting a lot done these past couple of days,” he lies.

“Really?” Niall asks excitedly. “Send it to me so I can have a look at what you’ve got so far! Actually, I can come over if you want. I’m already out.”

Louis sits up at lightning speed, making himself lightheaded. “No! Don’t!” he shouts. “I mean…of course you can come over if you want, but uh, I don’t want you to read the draft yet. It’s not finished.” Louis hopes that was a good enough save.

Niall whines on the other end of the phone. “Louis, are you sure I can’t just take one teeny, tiny, little peek? You haven’t even told anyone the title yet. Come on. I’m curious!”

Louis isn’t sure how much longer he can keep this up. He’s been claiming that he’s almost finished for over a month.

“Well, you know they say curiosity killed the cat.” In this case it wouldn’t be curiosity that kills the cat of course, rather finding out that so far Louis’ second book is a grand total of only nineteen words. _That_ would probably send the cat into cardiac arrest.

Niall is still whining, so Louis’ brain goes off on a tangent about cats and the fact that Harry Styles is completely _stupid_ over them… which reminds him…

“Hey Niall, I forgot about a few errands I need to run. Can I call you back later?”

“That depends. Am I ever going to get to read this secret rough draft?”

“Of course you will. I’m nearly finished with it. I _promise_ I’ll send it to you the moment I’m done.”

He isn’t sure if Niall actually believes his lies or not, but either way, it gets him off the phone.

He checks Twitter as soon as he hangs up.

Louis huffs aloud. He sent that book days ago. Surely it would have made it to its destination by now, after all, the bakery isn’t all that far away. He wishes he knew whether or not the book ever actually made into Harry’s hands, or if Harry’s just ignoring him as usual.

He thinks about pestering Liam with a quick inquiry tweet about any mysterious parcels addressed to Harry that may or may not have shown up at their bakery. He quickly decides that it’s rude to use Twitter and his readers for his own ulterior motives. He doesn’t want to abuse Twitter, but there are other ways to find out what he wants.

Louis pulls up the website again, smiling as he dials the number for the bakery.

It’s simple: If he calls and Liam happens to answer, then he can just ask to speak to Harry without saying who’s calling. If he calls and Harry answers, then he can demand to know why the rude bastard hasn’t even given him a simple thank you for his efforts. It’s perfect.

Someone very Liam-sounding picks up.

“Hello. H&L Creative Cakes.”

“Hi there. I was wondering if I could please speak to Harry Styles?”

“Sure, just give me one -” Liam cuts himself off, “I’m sorry. It’s just that you sound a lot like…are you? Is this Louis Tomlinson?”

Shit. “Um, yes?” Louis squeezes his eyes shut. His mastermind plan didn’t account for Liam recognizing his fucking voice. “Hi Liam. How are you?” he asks casually like the two of them are old friends.

“Oh my God, it _is_ you!” Liam sounds so thrilled that Louis can almost feel his excitement through the phone. “Thanks again for the book and also for following me on Twitter! You have no idea how insane that was. I could hardly believe it!” Louis tries to tell Liam that it was all no problem, but he can hardly get a word in over him. Liam must realize how much he’s talking because he quickly stops himself. “Shit. Sorry. You wanted to speak to Harry? Are you ordering a cake? Do you need us to design something for you? We’d be honored!”

Telling Liam that he wants to talk to Harry for the sole purpose of forcing him to read and enjoy his book isn’t really something he wants to say out loud, so he just goes with it. “Uh, Yeah. It’s about a cake. I was going to run an idea by him about a design,” Louis lies, “…My aunt’s getting married.”

Liam apparently can’t tell the difference between a lie and the truth because he still sounds ecstatic.

“That’s so wonderful! I haven’t actually seen Harry around for a while. He’s around here somewhere, but I could help you. What did you have in mind?”

Louis cringes, dropping his face into the palm of his hands. This phone call is going disastrously wrong.

“Oh, uh…that’s alright. I was just going to ask about some prices or whatever. It can always wait.”

The soft, disappointed _Oh_ Liam gives makes Louis want to fling himself from a cliff. Louis is pretty sure he deserves to be stoned to death for making Liam Payne feel bad. “Actually, it’d be really great if you could help me out, Liam.” He can’t see Liam’s face, but he’s sure it’s painted with a smile as bright as the sun.

They end up discussing all kinds of cakey things from tiers to batter, and Louis is pretty much able to keep up with the charade until Liam starts asking very specific questions about his very fake aunt’s non-existent wedding.

“You know Louis, it’s kind of difficult for us to create what you want us to design over the phone. I’m having to do a lot of guessing here. I don’t know how far away you live, but you should definitely try to come in and have us draw it up for you.”

Too far. This whole thing has already gone entirely too far. All Louis wanted to do was brag about his brilliance after successfully force-feeding his writing down Harry’s throat, and now he’s about to drop his entire salary on a custom designed cake. “That’s alright, mate. My aunt may change her mind about what she wants, so I’ll just wait to order it.”

“Oh. Okay then, Louis,” Liam says, sounding incredibly crestfallen. “Sorry I couldn’t help.”

Louis deserves to swallow acid covered splinters for causing him to sound so sad.

“Well, I mean, I don’t live too far…” Louis begins. “If you think it’s best that I come to the shop, then I’ll come.”

Liam’s enthusiasm is restored. “Great! You’ll be glad you did when your aunt’s cake turns out amazing! Have you got the address?”

Louis’ eyes flick over to where the address is crinkled up over on his bedside table.  “No, but I’ll look it up and then I’ll head over.”

“Okay, great! That sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit, Louis!”

The line disconnects, and Louis is more certain now than ever that he is an idiot, and that this has officially gone too far as he starts getting dressed. He has more important things to do than talking about cake like writing an entire rough draft for example, but at least if he’s going down to the shop he’ll get to snoop around and see if Harry got his book or not, so really, Louis may be a genius.


	4. Chapter 4

Less than a half hour of driving lands him right in front of H&L Creative Cakes, the sign large and welcoming as he steps through the door. The sweet scent of sugar wafts through the air around him making his mouth water for whatever it is he can smell baking from the kitchen.

Louis doesn’t see either of the bakery’s two owners upon entering, but eventually spots Liam behind the display counter who gives him an excited wave from where he’s talking on the phone. Louis waves back, then occupies himself by looking at the collection of photos and thank you cards on the wall nearest him, all featuring couples smiling on their special days with beautiful cakes from H&L in the background sharing their spotlight. Louis has to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

He walks over to the opposite side of the room where the display case begins. There’s a couple standing next to him trying to choose a color scheme; actually, there’s a girl singlehandedly trying to choose a color scheme because her groom-to-be isn’t even listening to her, far too wrapped up in his phone to offer her more than a couple of noncommittal grunts, none of which actually help the girl decide on anything. She doesn’t seem to notice his indifference, talking right over his continued silence as if it’s something she’s used to dealing with every day. Louis gives the entire relationship a year, if that.

He politely steps to the opposite side of the couple when his attention gets stolen by the cardboard version of a four tiered solar system cake. Louis bends down to get a better look, amazed at the way the round, fondant planets spiral from the bottom in a line leading up to the sun on the very top tier. Louis’ just inspecting the details of the glitter stars on the sides of the cake, when a deep voice startles him from behind.  “An astronomer ordered that cake about a year ago. It’s probably one of the coolest ones we’ve ever done.”

Louis whips around at that, finding himself almost toe to toe with Harry. His dark shirt and jeans are covered in something powdery that Louis assumes is flour. There’s a smudge of some of it on his chin, and even though he has all of his hair pulled back into a bun, there’s bits of flour there too, clinging to the curls that he missed. Harry is staring at him almost like he’s waiting for Louis to explain his presence in his bakery. For the first time in a while for Louis, verbal words seem to escape him.

“Oh. Hi there,” he says rather dumbly.

“What are you doing here?”

Prior to coming here, Louis had developed a brilliant plan to corner Harry and ask him about the book, but now that they’re here he has forgotten the entire thing. Harry’s still staring at him, still waiting, but luckily Louis doesn’t have to stumble through an explanation because Liam Payne (Louis’ best and most appreciated fan) comes over to save him.

“Louis! You made it!” He walks up, beaming from ear to ear. Liam falters a bit when he notices the way Harry is looking down his nose at him. “Is everything alright?”

“What’s he doing here?” Harry asks again.

“Oh, Louis?” Liam smiles in his direction. “He called about a cake earlier. His aunt’s getting married so I invited him down.”

Harry’s eyes are smug and sarcastic before he even speaks. “Your aunt?” he smirks, “What’s her name, then?”

“Victoria,” Louis answers immediately. He has no aunt called Victoria, but he’ll be damned if Harry knows that.

“When’s her wedding?”

Louis pulls a random date out of his ass. “The twenty-seventh of August.”

“In the middle of the week?” he asks.

Damn it. He didn’t think about that.

Louis raises an eyebrow at him in challenge. “Yeah. So what?”

Harry breathes a laugh to himself. “Right,” he says, his lips still turned up into a grin when he turns to leave. Liam starts apologizing before he’s even out of earshot.

“I am _so_ sorry. I know you two didn’t really get along that day at your signing, but he shouldn’t have been that way.”

“Oh no, Liam, really it’s fine. I get it. You don’t have to apologize.”

Liam is looking at Louis like he wants to let it all go, but his face still looks apologetic. “It’s just- I can understand why he doesn’t like your book…no offense,” he adds. Louis just shrugs. Some people _hate_ his book. It’s not an untrue statement. “But I just don’t get why he would be so rude to _you,_ like, as a person. That’s not like him.”

Harry’s just mad that Louis’ book is telling the truth to millions. Louis doesn’t take it personally. He realizes it’s all strictly political.

“Well, let’s not worry about him. You can’t win over everyone, right?” he grins. Even as he says it, Louis knows it’s not true, seeing as how winning Harry over is the main reason he’s even standing in their shop.

*

Louis’ wedding cake consultation has been going on for about fifteen minutes, and although Liam has yet to tally up the bill, Louis is sure that this fabricated ceremony is costing him a fortune.  They’ve got a basic design which is an exact replica of a cake Liam showed him that they did a few weeks ago.

“When do you think your aunt would be able to come in for a tasting?”

A fucking _tasting_? Louis cannot believe the amount of effort that goes into this kind of nonsense.

“Well, the cake is going to be a surprise for her, so I’ll just do my best to choose something I know she’ll like.”

“Oh wow!” Liam smiles. “That’s really nice of you, Louis. I know you’re not a big fan of marriage and stuff, so she must really mean a lot to you.” He starts to clear away the area they were just using to plan. “Well in that case, let me go get some samples really quick for you. We might as well do this all in one day. I’ll call you back to the kitchen in about five minutes?”

Louis is flipping through a random baking supply catalogue when Liam leaves through the door behind the display case. The door is left ajar so Louis can see down the narrow walkway that leads to the kitchen area. There’s a little office room he can see off to the side that is also open.  Liam offers a quick wave to someone inside when he walks by.

When Louis’ sure that Liam is gone, he quickly discards the catalogue and lets himself behind the counter. He tries to sneak down the walkway, but the old floor is so loud that it gives him away before he even pokes his head in the office door.

Harry looks up from his computer when he sees Louis standing there. He’s all cleaned up now with his hair hanging down in dark ringlet curls that fall onto his shoulders. There’s still some flour on his shirt collar, but his cheeks and chin are virtuously spotless. Louis would even venture to say Harry looks pretty good if it weren’t for the completely bored expression on his face.

“Isn’t it like, against your moral code to be even remotely close to wedding related things, or you know, happiness in general?” he asks, his eyes now back on whatever it is he’s looking so serious about on his laptop.

Louis walks a few steps into the room, “Tweeting more cats, are you?”

Harry levels him with a threatening look before sitting up straight in his seat. “Why are you here, Louis? Shouldn’t you be contaminating my best friend with your love advice, or better yet, tasting cake for your aunt’s wedding? Her name is Camille, right?”

Louis makes the horrible mistake of speaking before thinking. “Yes,” Louis spits back, “And actually I was just on my way to the kitchen but-” Harry’s triumphant smirk makes Louis lose his train of thought.

“I knew it. You said her name was Victoria.” Louis’ first instinct is to cover up the lie, but honestly, who is he fooling? Harry can see right through him. Harry leans forward to really look at Louis, regarding him with a bemused expression. “I don’t understand what it is you want from me? Do you stalk everyone who doesn’t like your book or am I just special?”

Louis scoffs at him. He has done many things over the course of the last week. Bothering, pestering, and annoying Harry are just a few of them, but stalking? Never. “Alright, it’s not like I _meant_ to end up in your bakery. I called first but things got complicated. I sent you something and I hadn’t had any confirmation it if got here so.”

Harry breathes a laugh. “So you just took it upon yourself to show up, pretend to need a cake, and ask me in person? Are all writers this insane?” _Yes,_ Louis thinks. Most are completely bat shit. 

Louis dramatically rolls his eyes. “So, did you get the book or not?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Louis gawks at him, his patience wearing thin at Harry’s amused expression. “Well you could’ve said so! Where is it now?” Louis looks around the room, spotting the package wrappings in a crumpled ball in the corner of the room. Harry goes back to looking at his laptop.

“I don’t know,” he mutters.  “Threw it out.”

“You threw it _out?_ ” Both of their heads whip towards the door when they hear Liam calling for Louis in the kitchen. Louis is still reeling from the three hundred and fifty-six pages of hard work Harry just sent to a fucking landfill. “Do you know how much that book was worth? I fucking gave it to you for free! Why would you do something like that?”

He shrugs like Louis didn’t waste his hard earned hibernation time on sending it to him. “I’ve already told you I don’t want to read it. I have to force myself not to throw Liam’s copy out every time I see it lying around. We don’t need two of them taking up space. Our shop is crowded enough as it is.”

Liam calls for him again, this time a bit louder. If he doesn’t go soon he’ll probably come looking for him.

“Don’t you have a fake wedding to plan for?” He raises an eyebrow at Louis standing in the doorway. He actually does need to get going, although he hates leaving with Harry looking so victorious. 

He starts out the door, but turns back to ask Harry one more question. “You’re, uh…you’re not going to tell Liam, are you?”

Harry rolls his eyes. “For reasons unknown, Liam thinks the sun shines out of your ass, so no. I won’t tell him about your fake aunt.”

Harry is a terrible human being, but even Louis can’t deny that he’s a good friend. “Well thanks, I guess.”

“It wasn’t a compliment, but you’re welcome.” Louis catches sight of Harry’s tight grin before stepping out into the hall, and even though he’s practically Louis’ sworn enemy at this point, Louis still feels uneasy knowing that Harry doesn’t like him.

*

It’s a couple of days later when Louis is sitting in front of his computer staring at the painfully blank document in front of him, tainted only by the single line of text he was able to come up with after Harry accused him of ruining the world. The first book was easy to write because he was so aware of how he felt. He was angry, heartbroken, and numb all at the same time. He had been mourning his relationship for months, and the only release he had was the chance to tell his story.

This time around, there is no Prince Charming to warn people about and there are no feelings of regret about what he maybe should’ve done to fix them. This time around he doesn’t feel anything about anyone, so the words aren’t so easy to type.

Louis would love to be able to say that his disdain for Harry Styles has had no effect on him, but he has spent nearly all of his writing time brooding over the man since leaving his bakery. He opened Twitter a few times with the intention of calling Harry out as a pompous dick for throwing away his book. The only reason he didn’t follow through is because it would upset Liam; well, that and the fact that Harry probably wouldn’t even respond. Imagining his precious book swimming amongst a sea of garbage makes a flash of anger run through him, so he poises his fingers over the keyboard only to sigh a few seconds later when he still can’t muster the will to write a thing.

It’s not like he’s actually achieving much at the moment other than internally sulking, so Louis opens Twitter to kill some time. He’s shocked to find something there from Harry.

_‘Are any of the events in this book real or is it mostly you talking out of your arse?’_

He has a lot of nerve _. ‘What do you mean?_ ’ Louis asks.

_‘Were you ever actually engaged to someone or did you make it up?’_

Louis thinks about the day Isaac slipped that stupid ring onto his finger and then the day Louis tearfully wedged it off, vowing to never again wear another. ‘ _Yes, I was engaged,’_ Louis answers him _. ‘I thought you said you threw my book away? How much have you read?_ ’

 _‘Well, I didn’t..._ _I’ve only just started it_. _’_ While Louis is still trying to decide what to say back, Harry sends another message to accompany the first. _‘What’s Charming’s real name, if you don’t mind me asking?’_

Louis never actually says his name aloud, partly because he doesn’t want to, and partly because he promised Isaac that he’d remain anonymous in the book version of his blog. For some reason he feels comfortable telling Harry.

 _‘His name is Isaac, and no, we do not speak anymore,’_ he adds, because that’s usually the next question people ask. He doesn’t expect what Harry sends back.

_‘I’m sorry, Louis. That it didn’t work out between you. That must have been really hard.’_

He doesn’t quite know what to do with the sincerity of Harry’s words. Louis’ fans, critics, and bosses are all aware of the fact that Louis’ personal life tragedy is the reason for all the sales, signings, and money. None of them however, not even his most dedicated readers, not even Niall ever actually take into consideration that Louis had been hurt. None of them have ever told Louis that they’re sorry. It’s odd coming from someone who doesn’t even particularly like him.

_‘Thank you, but it’s okay. It wouldn’t have worked out anyway. It never does.’_

Louis can practically see the annoyance on Harry’s face when he responds _. ‘That’s not true. Sometimes things do work. I know that he left you, and I know that it hurt, but that doesn’t mean it always will. Everyone isn’t him.’_

Yes, Isaac did leave him, and yes, Louis felt like his entire world had come crashing down before his eyes. Harry has clearly never felt that way, because if he had, then he’d be a lot more bitter. He’d be a lot more like Louis.

Louis can’t think of anything to say back to Harry that wouldn’t automatically turn their conversation hostile, so Louis chooses to put an end to it in the most neutral way he can manage. _‘Let’s agree to disagree._ ’

Louis goes back to staring at his document when he’s sure Harry is back to ignoring him.

A quick check up text from Niall earlier was the whole reason Louis sat down at his laptop to begin with. He couldn’t come up with anything during his long gruesome hours of writer’s block, but a fifteen minute conversation with Harry has him typing whole sentences without much effort.

“ _Stepping back to assess the damage is the first of many steps in the right direction_. _Don’t let other people determine how big or how small that first step should be, because no one else can determine how much you can handle or how deeply you’ve been hurt.”_


	5. Chapter 5

Once his book became an overnight success Louis had to turn off the Twitter notifications on his phone in order to keep his sanity. He was getting so many followers and mentions that his phone battery would drain itself from trying to keep up.  It’s been over a year since then, so Louis decided to turn the notifications back on since things have slowed down and the book tour is over. He tells himself that turning his notifications back on has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Styles, but that doesn’t stop Louis from jolting out of his sleep the moment he hears the familiar ding from his bedside table.

He smirks when he reads Harry’s name, even if it is half past two in the morning.

_‘You can’t just tell people what they feel in the beginning stages of a relationship isn’t real, Louis! How could you possibly know how two people feel about each other? It’s not up to you to determine what falling in love feels like for other people.’_

So Harry’s gotten to chapter three, then, Louis thinks with another smirk. He wipes the sleep out of his eyes and gears up for the great debate he can feel about to explode between them. ‘ _All relationships start the exact same way, Harry. You fall for someone, but you’re so focused on that person being the One that you disregard all of their flaws and embrace the qualities you just so happen to be able to tolerate. You don’t see the warning signs in their personalities because you don’t want to see them. I never said I know how people in relationships feel, but I do know what they do, and that is confuse infatuation with love.’_

Louis sits back, ready for Harry’s argument. He doesn’t care if Harry doesn’t like his theory. That chapter was the easiest he ever wrote because it was the topic he was most bitter about. He got to list off all the painfully obvious flaws in his and Isaac’s relationship, as well as every imperfection in the man himself that Louis used to gush over. Louis got to call out every quirky and endearing thing Isaac ever said or did that tricked Louis into believing he was falling in love; that they were falling in love with each other.

‘ _What is wrong with you?! Everyone has flaws regardless of whether you’re in love with them or not! You learn to accept the bad with the good because people aren’t perfect! That’s what love is!!’_

Harry keeps yelling at him through direct message. He gets an entire two paragraphs full of Harry defending love followed by a highly demanding request for Louis’ phone number. Louis guesses it’d be a lot easier for Harry to shout at him over the phone rather than typing all those exclamation points, so he obliges. When he answers the call, Harry isn’t yelling like he anticipated. Instead he just sounds impatient.

“Has Liam told you about Heather?”

It takes Louis a second to respond. He thought they were going to argue some more about love or soul mates or something else equally ridiculous.

“No. Who’s Heather?”

“The girl Liam was dating a few months ago. The one he was talking about at your signing... she left Liam for her ex-boyfriend. She told Li that she cheated on him because they were so unhappy together, but Louis, I saw them together almost every day, and they weren’t unhappy. Their relationship was fine, great even, and she ruined it, just like that, like Liam’s feelings didn’t even matter. She was awful to him. He was really fucked up about it for a long time, but then he started getting better. He started talking about other girls and moving on so, you know, I figured he was going to be alright…” Harry’s voice gets softer as his words taper off.

“Harry, why are you telling me this?” Clearly that was the wrong question to ask, because now Harry _is_ yelling.

“Because, Louis, he actually _was_ alright until he read your stupid book, and now he doesn’t talk about girls at all because he’s gotten it in his head that everything he’s ever felt is a lie! He wanted kids before. He wanted a family and wife who loves him, except now he thinks those things don’t exist because you’ve told him and everyone else in the world that they don’t!”

Louis scoffs into the phone. He feels bad for what that girl did to Liam, really, he does. Liam is amazing. He’s so kind and sweet, and he didn’t deserve to be cheated on, but it’s not Louis’ fault that he was. “You can’t blame me for Liam changing his life goals! If he doesn’t want to get married anymore then he came to that decision all on his own!”

“Yeah, but he had help from _you_!” Harry shouts in exasperation.

They both go silent for a few seconds, and it sounds strange compared to the previous volume of their conversation. Louis sighs, long and hard. “What is it that you’re really upset about, Harry?”

“I just-” he sighs too like he’s tired. Louis can sympathize; it’s late. Harry should be asleep, and so should he. “I just don’t get it. You were happy once. You and your fiancé were planning to spend your entire lives together and it’s like you’ve completely forgotten what that’s like, what’s it like to feel so much for another person that you want to spend every single day with them. I don’t for one second believe that you actually feel the things that you wrote in this book.”

For once, Louis has no philosophical answer waiting at the tip of his tongue. He tries more than anything every day to not remember what being in love feels like.

Silence stretches out for so long that Louis feels uncomfortable knowing Harry can hear him breathing. He clears his throat when it suddenly feels tighter than it did a few minutes ago. “It’s late, so uh…I’m going to go. I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“Louis,” Harry says, sounding almost remorseful…almost.

“I’m glad you’re reading it so, call me I guess if you have more questions…” Harry calls his name again and he continues to ignore it. He wishes Harry a good night and hangs up, the clogged feeling in his throat still there even after Harry is long gone.

He doesn’t want to lie there and pick through his brain to determine why Harry’s words had such an effect on him. He chooses instead to push himself out of bed and to the kitchen where he left his laptop. He has no immediate inspiration or direction when he starts typing, yet somehow his tangled web of thoughts come flowing out like honey.

*

Niall is on him first thing the next morning.

“Hey Louis! Whatcha up to?”

“Oh nothing,” Louis yawns. “Just waking up. I’m still in bed actually…I should probably get up.”

“So you’re at home?”

Louis frowns as he pulls the covers up from where he kicked them last night. “Uh, yes?”

“Great! Come let me in.”

Louis yanks on his sheet so hard that the whole thing comes flying up to his chin. He sits up in record speed, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. “What do you mean, _let you in_? Let you in where? _Here_?”

“Yep! I’m almost at your door.” A quick succession of knocks confirms Niall’s location as well as Louis’ future funeral when Niall sees how much he has written.

He can’t hide, so he reluctantly tells Niall he’s coming then disconnect the line. He drags himself to the door, wishing more than anything that he could just evaporate into thin air. Niall pushes right on through the door when Louis opens it.

“Now before you get all upset that I just showed up at your door like this, let me explain the situation.”

“The situation?”

Niall nods, his usual happy grin absent from his lips. “I know you said you need some more time, but I just left the office and they want to start early promotion soon. Like, _really_ soon. I’ve been telling them what you have is great so far, but they’re tired of me being vague.” Louis can feel himself becoming lightheaded the more Niall talks. “They want something concrete by the end of the week. They also want a title, and since you keep avoiding me, the only way I knew how to get those things was to just show up.” Niall’s face shows how much he dislikes having to say any of this. Louis’ face shows how very scared he is for his well-being once Niall finds out the truth.

Louis doesn’t say anything since he’s pretty sure Niall is going to murder him in about five minutes. He leads Niall to the kitchen, refusing to look at his excited expression when Louis opens the laptop and pulls up the document.

Niall sits down, and Louis is so embarrassed that he can’t even look. He turns around to stare out the small window over his kitchen sink.

“ _Book Two_ , huh?” Niall laughs to himself. “I like it. Now, the publishers may have a suggestion or two about the title, but we can always fight to name it whatever you want.”

Louis appreciates the fact that Niall is always on his side. He takes a second to commit that feeling to memory, seeing as how he’ll probably never feel it again once he realizes Louis has been lying to him.

Niall starts reading. Louis can hear the soft click of the mousepad each time he scrolls down to read more until a couple of minutes pass and the clicking comes to a dead halt.

“Lou…” Louis bends at the waist to rest the side of his face against the cool surface of the counter top. He feels so light headed.

“Yeah, Ni?”

“What the fuck is this?”

Louis squeezes his eyes shut. “Um… it’s my book?”

“It’s like two pages. Where’s the rest of it?”

Louis stands up, rubbing a hand down his exhausted face. “That’s all of it,” he admits, wanting to die on the spot from the look of complete confusion in Niall’s eyes.

“But, you said you were nearly finished,” he points out. “You said you just needed a few days!”

“I lied.”

Niall stands back from his chair, running his hands through his hair. “Louis, what the fuck?! I’ve been telling everyone what you’ve been telling me! What am I supposed to do with two pages?! Oh my God,” Niall sits back down breathing much too quickly for someone not even moving. “Louis, you’re under contract! You agreed to a second book and the company expects it _now_!” He looks so betrayed. “What the hell have you been doing all this time?”

“I don’t know!” Louis starts, defensive. “It’s just- It’s a lot harder this time around. Like, I sit down with every intention of writing, but I just _can’t_. The only reason I even have these measly two pages is because I keep arguing with Harry!”

“Who the hell is Harry?”

Louis sighs, “You know, that guy from my signing. The one who kept asking all that shit about the book. The super annoying one.”

“But you hated him. Why would you-”

“Niall, I honestly have no idea.” Louis slides down to sit on the cool tile of his floor. He holds his head in his hands as he tries to come up with answers. He doesn’t have any. “We talk about the book, he usually pisses me off, I sit down, and somehow I’m able to type. I don’t know how to explain it.”

It’s quiet. Louis hates it when people stare at him and don’t say anything.

Niall shakes his head. “I don’t know what to tell you, Louis. They want a complete rough draft by the end of the week.”

Louis is going to be sick, he just knows it. “Can’t you get me an extension?”

“We’re already on your third extension. They won’t keep granting them without some kind of insurance. They don’t even know the title yet.”

A _week_? It took Louis that long just to get as much as he has. He needs more time. “What if you send this to them?  Say I didn’t want to give away too much until I’m finished and then ask for an extension.”

“They want to start promotion. They’re not going to give you another three months to write.”

“Okay, then I just need a month.”

“That’s too long. They won’t go for it.”

“Okay… three weeks?”

Niall rolls his eyes. “You’re going to write an entire book in three weeks?” He stares at Louis with a flat expression. Louis’ stomach turns. He couldn’t even write a complete sentence for months.

“Yes. I can do it in three, I’ll just have to really focus and, you know, not eat or sleep or any of those other basic survival things.”

Niall seems to consider it for a moment. He looks resolved after a few minutes seeing as how this is their best option at the moment. “Fine. I’ll see if I can get you three weeks, but if it’s not done by then, then we’re both looking at unemployment.”

“Oh my God,” Louis breathes. “Thank you!” He feels so much relief in that moment that his lips stretch into a wide grin that gets completely shattered by Niall’s next words.

“Yeah, you better be thanking me. You also better get in touch with Harry since he’s the only person who can seem to get anything out of you.”

Louis lets the back of his head bang against the door of his cabinet. He hates having to deal with Harry almost as much as Harry hates having to share the same planet as him.


	6. Chapter 6

He realized soon after Niall left that everything he has written so far is nothing more than a few choppy ideas loosely strung together by the idea of starting over. He likes that theme, but he doesn’t know where to go from there. He gives himself one hour to try and come up with some sort of plan. He gives up and calls Harry after twenty minutes.

It’s with a heavy heart that Louis abandons what’s left of his pride to call Harry Styles. He asks if it would be alright for him to come down to the bakery for a bit. Louis doesn’t mention why he suddenly feels so keen to visit, and oddly enough, Harry doesn’t ask.

The sweet scent of sugar fills his lungs again when he steps through the door. There’s no one in the front today, but he can hear someone yelling, “We’re back here!” from the kitchen. 

Liam and Harry briefly look up from where they’re busy decorating a cake when he steps into the kitchen with them. “Give us just a minute, Louis,” Liam mumbles. Their faces are completely focused on the pattern of star shaped icing they’re creating around the perimeter of each tier. They work so well together that neither of them has to speak at all as they work on their respective areas. Five minutes is all it takes for them to achieve what would have taken Louis hours. They step back to examine their work, both seeming to find it acceptable. Louis thinks it looks amazing.

“Hi, Louis!” Liam beams at him now that the serious stuff is over. “Harry said you wanted to stop by for a bit. What’s up? Is it about your aunt?”

Harry curiously peeks over at Louis from where he’s washing his hands at the sink. He’s probably wondering why Louis is here as well.

“Uh, not exactly. I kind of need a favor from you,” Louis realizes that he’s staring right at Harry, so he quickly turns to Liam to include him, “From both of you actually. It’s about my second book…”

Liam already looks completely dedicated to doing whatever Louis asks of him. “Of course, Louis. What do you need?” Harry is leaned back against the countertop, his face giving no indication of whether or not he would consider helping Louis with anything.

Louis stumbles through the little explanation he managed to think up on the drive over. “Well, my last book was written using only my perspective on things. I kind of want to do something different this time so I want to include other people’s views on love and all that stuff. You don’t have to of course,” Louis needs them to agree, actually. Harry is his only ticket out of this, “But it would really help me out if I could interview you.”

The loud exclamations of excitement from Liam are enough of an answer for Louis to know that he absolutely loves the idea, but it’s Harry that Louis turns toward. They lock eyes for a moment, and Louis wonders if Harry can see right through him and realizes that it’s really only him that Louis needs. He seems to know everything else about Louis, so he wouldn’t be surprised. Louis isn’t above begging. Thankfully he doesn’t have to when Harry finally gives him a quick nod of agreement.

Louis thanks them both, watching Liam’s face beam as he expresses just how honored he is to help his favorite author. Harry listens for a few seconds before walking around the kitchen to clean up the tools he and Liam just used.

He hasn’t said a single thing since Louis got here and yet Louis is aware of every movement he makes around them. The only thing Harry says at all is a quick ‘hello’ to the man who just walked in from the back of the kitchen. He’s holding some shopping bags in one hand and a carton of coffees in the other. Liam smiles when the man hands him one of the drinks. Liam continues talking about the best times for interviewing at the shop, but Louis is only half listening at this point.

He watches the man he’s never seen before hand a coffee to Harry and then take one for himself. He sits the bags down on the counter where Harry was just putting away the icing tips. Harry thanks him for going out with a soft kiss to the cheek, and suddenly Louis has no clue what Liam is talking about.

“Did you hear me, Louis?”

He has to tear his eyes away from the pair talking over in the corner to even look in Liam’s direction. “What?”

Liam doesn’t even look upset that Louis was ignoring him. “I said since you want to interview us multiple times we could always let you work in the office if you think that would be a good idea.”

The man has now started helping Harry put away the ingredients he just bought. Their arms brush every now and then and Louis can’t help but watch them interact. “Yeah, Liam. That sounds good. That’ll be a big help.”

As soon the bags are empty, the man checks the time and tells Harry that he has to get going. Harry nods understandably and leaves another appreciative kiss against the man’s jaw, getting half of his lips too. Louis doesn’t even realize he’s watching the man so intently until he walks right in front of him and Liam.

“Hey,” he smiles down at Louis, still clutching his coffee. “I’m Sam, by the way. I’d have gotten you a coffee too, but I didn’t know you’d be here.” He’s blonde and kind-faced, with light brown eyes that make it hard for Louis to actually find fault with him.

“Oh, no worries. I’m Louis Tomlinson.”

Sam’s face lights up in recognition. “You’re the author of that love book, right? I think Harry’s been reading it lately. What are you doing here of all places?” Liam is all too happy to tell him.

“He wants to interview us for his new book!”

Sam smiles over at Harry who is quietly watching their interaction with interest. “Really? That’s so cool!” Sam looks impressed, and sadly enough Louis takes pleasure in Harry’s boyfriend finding him cool. “Well, I have to get going, Louis, but it was really nice to meet you.” He shakes Louis’ hand and then he’s out the door, telling Liam and Harry goodbye as he leaves.

Liam goes back to being excited, filling the room with most of the conversation going on. Louis peeks over at Harry out of curiosity, and finds him back to cleaning over near the sink. He wonders why Harry has never mentioned Sam. They’ve sure delved into Louis’ love life enough that he’d expect Harry to have mentioned the fact that he has a boyfriend somewhere along the line. Harry turns around to grab his coffee and almost catches Louis staring. He looks away in time, just quick enough to meet Liam’s eyes and catch the end of what he’s been talking about.

“This is going to be so great!” he grins.

“Yeah,” Louis agrees. “It’ll be really good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are coming soon! Hope you're enjoying it so far :)  
> Thanks again to FallingLikeThis (Zayniam) for being so wonderful!


	7. Chapter 7

Louis wakes up with a feeling of dread solidifying in his stomach the next morning.

When Louis had initially asked for the extension, three weeks sounded like a lifetime to him, but now that day one has arrived he already feels like he won’t be able to finish in time.

In an attempt to look more professional and less like a crazed man rushing to complete a book in three weeks’ time, Louis took time yesterday to actually sit down and force himself to think of some basic, relevant interview questions to ask Harry and Liam, even going as far as to type them out so that he wouldn’t forget them. That tiny bit of effort is the most Louis has felt like a real writer in a long time.

H&L Creative Cakes smells heavenly when he walks in with his old backpack slung over his shoulder. He gives Liam a quick wave where he’s speaking with a couple at the display case. Louis tries not to draw attention to himself as he sneaks back to the little walkway that leads to the kitchen.

He expects to find Harry in the office, laid back in his chair and hovering over his laptop with a scowl on his face, but when he turns the corner, there’s no one there. He can hear someone moving around in the kitchen though, so Louis sits his bag down inside the room and follows the noise.

Harry’s back is to him as he works with the mixer. The sound of the machine is so loud that it almost drowns the sound of Harry softly singing to himself. Louis walks further into the kitchen, saying hello as he makes his presence known, but Harry doesn’t even acknowledge him. It isn’t until Louis is right beside him that he notices the tiny speakers wedged firmly into Harry’s ears.

Now that he knows he isn’t being blatantly ignored, Louis tries again, this time much louder so he can be heard over the music and the whirring of the mixer. “Harry?”

He looks surprised to see Louis standing there at first when he turns toward him. He’s covered in flour again, most of it smeared across the front of him. There are bits of it in his eyebrows and along the line of his jaw, and even though his hair is pulled back there are still some powdery strands visible. Seeing Harry like this makes Louis want to rub his thumb along all the patches of white to clean him up a bit, but he quickly stamps down on the urge to do something that incredibly stupid.

“Hey,” Harry says, removing his headphones and turning off the mixer. “Sorry if you were trying to get my attention,” he says showing them to Louis, “Couldn’t exactly hear you.”

Louis assures him that it’s fine. “That’s alright. I heard you singing so I figured you couldn’t hear me.” Louis didn’t exactly mean to go into that much detail, but…

Harry’s cheeks are little pink when he turns back to his batter. “Did you see Liam up front?”

“Yeah, but he was busy with some customers so I just came on back.” Harry grabs an assortment of square baking pans from overhead and lays them out in a row from largest to smallest. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you or anything…it’s just that I heard someone in the kitchen so.”

“You’re not bothering me,” Harry insists as he starts pouring the smooth mixture into the pans, and Louis guesses he must be telling the truth because Harry doesn’t seem too troubled by Louis’ presence as he works.

Louis watches as he places each of the pans in the large oven beside them and then starts to clean up the mess he made. By the time Liam comes to find him, there’s batter all over Harry’s hands and forearms, and no indication that Harry himself actually cares. Louis follows Liam to the office, leaving Harry looking like a complete mess behind him. Louis smiles to himself realizing Harry looks just like his picture on Twitter.

Louis already expects the energy he gets from Liam who is ready to jump straight into interviewing as soon as they get settled. He sits straight up in his chair, giving Louis every bit of his attention as he pulls out his laptop and hits the record button on his phone. He figures the best way to get this over with is to just do it. He tries not to think about the fact that he has never interviewed someone in his life.

“Okay, Liam. I’m going to ask you some questions, but I want it to be more like us just having a conversation and less like an interview, alright?” Louis smiles. Liam nods to let him know that he understands. “I’m going to just let the recording run, so talk as much or as little as you want.”

Louis slides his glasses onto his face as he begins reading his questions. “Okay, Liam. How would you define love?”

Liam pauses for a moment as he thinks, and although Louis really doesn’t need Liam’s definition of love, he is interested to hear what he says. He goes to speak several times before actually formulating words. “Well, I used to think love was like…this _massive_ thing you feel all the time when you look at someone or think about them. I thought love was sharing all the pieces of yourself with the one person you want to hold onto forever and caring about someone so much that it overwhelms every part of you and makes that person feel like your entire world. Like, that person is the center of everything, and even though it’s not rational, you’d do anything to make them feel safe and protected, and in return they’d do the same for you.”

“Oh,” Louis clears his throat, a bit surprised by the look of pure nostalgia in Liam’s eyes. He would never have guessed that Liam felt so strongly about such a simple word. “If that’s what you used to think, then how would you define it now?”

Liam pauses for a lot longer than last time. Louis can almost see the light die out of his eyes. “I don’t really know anymore… I mean, I still feel love obviously, for like my friends and family, but I don’t know if what I described earlier can exist between two people who are more than that.” Liam looks down at his hands to avoid his eyes. “I don’t think two people in a relationship are really capable of it.” He says it so softly that Louis almost doesn’t hear him.

He already knows Liam’s answer to his next question before he even asks it. “And what made you change your mind about love?”

Liam is still fiddling with his hands when he starts talking about his ex-girlfriend, but Louis doesn’t expect the smile that comes to Liam’s face when he suddenly meets Louis’ eyes. “…and the person who helped me the most of course, is you.” It’s meant to be a compliment. Liam probably thought it would make Louis happy to know that Liam virtually has no expectations of love anymore, however his comment does nothing but cause Louis to miss the warmth of his smile from the first question he asked.

*

He and Liam finish almost an hour later. He goes back to helping in the front when more customers show up. Liam thanks him with a big hug when he goes.

Louis hasn’t actually seen Harry since he got here, so he goes back into the kitchen to look for him. He finds Harry there cutting out shapes of fondant as the pans of cakes he baked sit cooling on the counter. His clothes are still covered with ingredients, but his hands and arms have been scrubbed clean again as he hums to the music playing in his ears. Learning his lesson from last time, Louis taps him on the shoulder to get his attention. Harry removes his ear buds but doesn’t stop cutting out the dozens of ivory tear-drop shapes from the fondant in front of him.

“When do you think would be a good time for us to sit down? I just finished with Liam.” Harry looks down at the things in front of him and then over at the things cooling on the counter. Louis is sure he’s going to tell him to come back later. He’s surprised when he doesn’t.

“Um, I’m kind of busy with all of this at the moment…could we do it in here?”

Louis has a book to write in less than a month. It’s not like he’s going to say no to the one person who can actually help him. “Yeah, sure. I’m fine with it as long as you are.”

Harry nods, clearing a portion of his workspace for Louis as he gestures to the sink. “Go wash your hands, then.”

Louis’ face shows every bit of confusion he feels. “What? Why?”

“Because, if I’m going to help you, then you’re going to help me.” He tilts his head over towards the sink again, “Go on.” Louis is about to laugh in his face, but the look in Harry’s eyes shows that he is completely serious about this.

“But,” Louis vaguely waves at the tiny shapes he’s still making, “I don’t know how to do _this_.”

Harry rolls his eyes at him. “It’s really not that difficult, Louis.” Louis is about to refuse again when Harry cuts him off at the start. “You’re wasting time,” he points out, cutting the last shape out of the white fondant. He raises an eyebrow at him when Louis is still standing there.

Louis goes to the sink to wash his hands, wanting nothing more than to slap Harry the entire time he does it. When he comes back Harry has started molding the tear shapes onto thin metal rods. He works for only a minute, layering the shapes on top of one another until he has created a single white rose which he places gingerly in front of Louis as an example. Harry hands him a rod and a few pieces of the fondant and Louis huffs, loud and impatient as he struggles to mold even the first piece correctly.

“Define love,” Louis demands out of nowhere, using none of the preparation or introduction he used for Liam’s sake as he tries to mimic Harry’s flower.

Harry laughs under his breath. “Is that how you talk to all the boys?” If he didn’t need Harry so much he would shove this stupid fondant up his nostrils to suffocate him. Louis gives him a look of warning that makes Harry smirk. “Which kind of love?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Whichever kind you’d like, I suppose.” Harry takes the same thoughtful pause as Liam before coming up with an answer.

“Everyone says that love is an emotion like anger or jealousy, but I think it’s _so_ much more than that...” The softness in Harry’s voice catches Louis’ attention as Harry smiles to himself. “It’s more than just a feeling, its- it’s a state of being, being in love with someone. I don’t think you can ever truly define it. People have been trying to for years, but there’s no way to properly describe it. There aren’t any words for the way being in love with someone actually feels.”

By the time Harry has finished talking Louis has abandoned the wilted looking flower in his hand. The look on Harry’s face is far more interesting. It’s almost like the very person Harry is thinking of is right there in the room with them as he continues to lay white roses in front of him.

It takes Louis a moment to regain himself. He picks up his ugly little flower again, clearing his throat. “And uh…have you ever been in love?” Louis pretends to shape his flower as he watches Harry’s face.

He assumes Harry will blurt out the name of his boyfriend and start on some long-winded speech about how amazing their relationship is. “Yeah,” Harry tells him. “A long time ago.”

Louis can’t stop himself from prying further into his life. “Are you not in love at the moment?” Louis doesn’t know the polite way to ask so he just spits it out. “…with Sam?” Harry’s fingers stop working on the flower he’s holding. His eyes are unreadable as he thinks, and all Louis can focus on is the streak of flour on the apple of one of his cheeks.

“No.”

Louis hates what he wants to ask next.

“Then why are you two together?”

Harry goes back to his flower, finishing it up and laying it next to the others. “We’ve only been together a month or so…it’s a bit early for all of that.”

Louis has abandoned his rose again, Harry’s answer fueling him to dig ever deeper. “Don’t you believe in true love, though? If you were meant for each other wouldn’t it have happened by now?”

Harry frowns at the sudden attack. Clearly Louis has made it too personal. Louis doesn’t expect him to turn the question around on him. “Did you fall in love with Isaac that quickly?”

“No. I didn’t love him.” Louis was never in love with Isaac. He just thought that he was.

He hates the way Harry is staring at him like he’s a liar. “You were going to marry him.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“ _Yes_ I do.”

Harry accidentally rips a petal off of his new rose at Louis’ persistence. “Then why were you even with him, Louis?” Louis doesn’t have an immediate answer so Harry answers for him. “No one writes an entire book about someone they didn’t love. You can say that you didn’t all you want, but I don’t believe you.”

Louis doesn’t argue with him as Harry’s judgmental gaze bores into him. Harry making him feel things is exactly what he came here for. He needs that anger, that resentment that he feels towards himself for being stupid enough to fall in love in the first place.

Louis watches as Harry fixes his torn rose and lays it down with the rest of them. He plucks Louis’ misshapen one out of his hand and evens it out so that it’s just as beautiful as the others. Louis still hasn’t said anything to him when Harry starts laying out wide sheets of fondant for the tiers that are now cool enough to handle. He whispers a quick thank you for Harry’s time and dismisses himself from the kitchen without another word.

*

Holding onto all of that hatred is a lot harder to follow through with when Louis sits down at his laptop later that night. He wants to write about how wrong Harry is and how everything he said is juvenile and the exact load of shit Louis is glad he no longer believes in. He wants to, but all he can see is the smile Liam wore when he talked about falling for someone and the light in Harry’s eyes when he claimed there were no words to describe how that actually felt. It doesn’t go with his current theme in the slightest, but Louis writes what he feels. He writes twelve pages worth of words he could never say out loud, because he’s sure no one would believe him if he said he was jealous.


	8. Chapter 8

When Louis arrives the next day the shop is a lot busier than he has ever seen it. Harry is handling three sets of customers at once, drawing up cake designs and trying to schedule their wedding dates into the calendar that is already bursting. Harry glances up and gives him a quick nod of acknowledgment as he tries to split his attention equally among the people at the display case. Since it’s so crowded up front, Louis goes to find Liam who is just as busy in the kitchen working on two cakes at once while answering the flood of calls coming through on the shop phone.

There’s so much going on that Louis asks if it would be better to just come back tomorrow. Liam tells him to stay, insisting that things will eventually slow down, so Louis takes out his laptop and sits down in the corner so he’s out of the way.  Nearly an hour passes of Louis trying to continue with his writing. He isn’t getting much done seeing as how loud it is in the bakery today, and he wonders if he’ll get to interview either of them at all.

He’s just about to give up and come back later when Harry comes rushing in, having just said goodbye to the last of their customers. Liam is still doing double duty, icing one cake while arranging the tiers of another. He reminds Harry that someone needs to deliver the cake they completed this morning within the next twenty minutes, causing Harry to run around with his hands in his curls trying to locate the keys to the bakery’s van.

Louis sees a pair of keys lying on the floor just a few feet away. He slides his laptop back into his bag before crawling over to grab them. The panic in Harry’s eyes instantly melts away when Louis places the keys in his hand.

“Oh my God, Louis, thank you so much!” His lips stretch into this big, dimpled smile that Louis has never seen him wear before. It’s so distracting that Louis completely forgets to be annoyed at the sight of him. “Where did you find these?”

Louis shrugs, “The floor over where I was typing. They must’ve fallen from the hook.” Louis can feel Harry’s appreciation as he thanks him again with a soft smile. He briefly wonders if he were Sam if he would get a thank you kiss to the cheek as well. It’s a thought that makes Louis realize exactly how tired he is.

Harry grabs a metal cart and wheels it to the large boxed up cake waiting near the back of the kitchen. He carefully slides it off the countertop and wheels it to the back door. He’s struggling trying to maneuver it alone, so Louis offers his help by holding the doors open to both the shop and the van. When he’s done, Harry runs back inside to return the cart and grabs the address for the delivery. He’s almost out the door again when Liam calls out to him. “Hey Harry.”

“Yeah, Li?” he asks, flustered. Liam is busy piping icing onto one of the cakes. He doesn’t even look up from where he’s working.

“Louis has been here a while…do you think he could ride along and interview you since I haven’t been able to sit down with him yet? Please?” Louis goes very, very still at the way Harry whips his head to look at him. He seems to be thinking it over, a little crease forming between his eyebrows. Harry glances at the clock over the sink and that seems to make the decision for him.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He turns to Louis, “But we have to leave like right now.” Louis can sense the urgency in Harry’s tone so he doesn’t waste a second more of his time, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. Louis follows him out the door as soon as Harry starts walking.

“Don’t kill each other,” Liam pleads jokingly, just before the bakery door shuts behind them.

Louis grins, but Harry looks too stressed to appreciate Liam’s humor at the moment. It’s so quiet inside the vehicle that Louis wonders why he ever thought this would be a good idea, and then he remembers that it wasn’t his idea at all. It was Liam’s.

“So…” Louis starts, trying for light small talk rather than their usual bickering. “I hardly recognize you without all the flour and sugar in your hair…”

“Yeah…I’ve been out front with customers. Liam’s mostly been in the kitchen today.”

“And yet somehow Liam’s clothes have remained crisp and spotless,” Louis smirks. Harry breathes a soft laugh, agreeing with him. It goes quiet again so Louis thinks of something else to say. “You two have been really busy today,” he comments.

“Yeah, the summer’s coming to an end so wedding season always gets kind of crazy around this time. Everyone’s trying to get their date in before the weather turns cold.”

“Oh. Maybe you should get someone in to help out when it’s like this. It could make things easier.” Harry hums at the suggestion but doesn’t comment. “Your boyfriend Sam sure seems to know his way around the shop…”

The look Harry gives him says he knows exactly what Louis is doing. “Yes, he does.” Harry clears his throat. “He helps out whenever he can.”

“And he couldn’t help today?”

“He was busy at work.”

“But he had time to randomly stop by a few days ago to run errands?”

Harry gawks at him, amazed at Louis’ tenacity as he parks in front of the venue for the cake delivery. “You seem very concerned about Sam and his work schedule for someone who’s supposed to be interviewing me for his book about dying love.”

Harry gets out, heading towards the back of the van. Louis follows, meeting him at the door to help carry the cake to the entrance. “My book is not about dying love,” Louis mutters as they shuffle through the lobby. Members of the venue staff point them in the direction of the kitchen.

“Oh yeah?” Harry asks. The box they’re carrying is so large that Louis can’t even see Harry on the other side of it. “What’s it about, then? Is it a retraction of your first book? Do you suddenly believe people can love each other?” Louis rolls his eyes. His arms are already tired from carrying this fucking cake and all he has accomplished from this van ride is to confirm that Harry loves nothing more than to mock him.

“I never said love doesn’t exist, Harry. I have a family whom I happen to love very much.”

Someone holds the door to the kitchen open and lets them pass. Louis is relived when they get to slide the heavy box onto a display cart near the other catered food. Harry thanks the person who held the door and starts removing the box from around the cake. He picks back up on their conversation like they never left it. “So you can love your brother and all your sisters, but a significant other is taking it too far in your opinion. Right. That makes perfect sense.” Harry finishes prepping the cake and then leaves the room in search of someone. Louis is right on his heels as he follows behind him.

“In my opinion becoming infatuated with someone is absolutely taking it too far,” Louis defends, “And how do you know about my siblings?” he demands, struggling to keep up with Harry’s long strides without looking like he’s jogging through the venue.

“I don’t know. How did you find me on Twitter?” Harry asks in the same tone. “I can search for things just like you can, Louis, and _Wow!_ You both look so amazing!” Harry’s conversation with Louis gets blended into a bright greeting as he nearly runs over the bride-to-be and a woman who is presumably her mother. The two women give shy smiles as Harry hugs them, careful not to mess up the bride’s hair and makeup. “Andrea, you make such a beautiful bride.”

“Oh, I’m just in my robe,” she blushes. “I don’t want Marcus to see the dress yet so I’m waiting until the last minute.”

“Well, he’s going to be speechless when he sees you,” Harry assures her. “Liam and I should have stepped up our game with the cake! You’re going to put us to shame,” he jokes.

Her eyes light up at the mention of the cake. “Oh, can we please see it, Harry? Please?”

She’s adorable, bouncing on her toes as Harry leads the way back to the kitchen. She drops her mother’s hand to cover her mouth when they round the corner. The cake is lavender with five tiers of some of the most intricate fondant work Louis has ever seen. Blossoms of lilac cascade from the top tier all the way down to the largest, with beads of edible pearls accented along the way. Louis had looked at it as just another cake from the shop until he witnessed Andrea’s reaction, but now that he’s really looking, it’s one of the most beautiful cakes he’s ever seen.

“Oh Harry,” she can’t even find the words as she gets choked up. “It’s even better than what I described to you. Thank you so, so much.” She looks near tears when she’s finished thanking him, so Harry wraps her in a tight hug, wishing her good luck and congratulations for her day. Louis stands there, feeling completely distant and out of place as Andrea’s mother quietly wipes away her own tears. He wonders if his mother would have cried watching him live through what was supposed to have been the most important day of his life. He wonders if he would have felt as happy as Andrea on his and Isaac’s wedding day if they had actually gone through with it.

The question haunts him the entire time they’re there.

Back in the van it’s quiet again, but this time it’s Harry who tries to make small talk. “Thanks for helping me carry the cake in. I know you hate weddings. You must have wanted to be anywhere else.”

Here they go again with Harry putting words in his mouth. “You’re welcome.” Louis was just going to leave it at that, but of course his mouth keeps talking. “And for the record, I do not _hate_ weddings.”

“Right. Just marriage and everything to do with it,” Harry deadpans.

Louis sighs into his hands. He’s so sick of having to defend himself all the time. It’s exhausting.

“Can you honestly blame me, Harry?” Harry jumps when Louis’ voice comes out a lot louder than he intended. “It’s just- I mean, you act like I’m this monster when I was just like that girl in there, _planning_ and _envisioning_ and _obsessing_ over this perfect fucking day I thought I was supposed to have, but unlike her, my wedding day never happened. I never even got close.” It feels good to get that out, and Harry is staring at him like he feels sorry. Good. He _should_ feel sorry. “Is it really so hard for you to believe that I don’t want to have to go through that again? Weddings are fine for other people, but I don’t have to subject myself to them anymore if I don’t want to, and besides all that, it’s not even real,” Louis spits.

Harry shakes his head, his condescending laugh causing even more anger to rise up in Louis’ chest. “Why do you always say shit like that? Of course it’s _real_. Do you think Andrea is pretending right now? Do you think she’s faking at being in love with her fiancé just so she can order a fucking cake and wear a white dress? She’s getting _married_ today, Louis, and even if it doesn’t work out between her and Marcus, no matter what happens she can always look back on this day and remember that in this moment she was happy.” Harry glances over at him, but Louis refuses to look at him. “I think even _you_ can understand that regardless of whether you’ve convinced yourself you never loved Isaac or not.”

There’s a tightness in Louis’ throat that hurts. It’s so uncomfortable and constricted that he knows the only release would be for him to cry, but he will not let a single tear fall in front of Harry Styles. “You’re dating someone you don’t even like, and you’re going to judge _me_?” Louis scoffs. “You’re such a hypocritical prick.”

“That’s funny,” Harry says, starting the engine. “I used to say the same thing about you.”

Louis laughs humorlessly. “ _Used to_?” He’s pretty sure Harry still hates him. This very conversation is proof that he does.

“Yeah,” Harry pulls out onto the street. “I thought you were a heartless asshole until I realized you’re a fraud.” Harry turns the radio up to drown out any response Louis might’ve had, but it’s pointless because he has no idea what to say to that anyway.

*

Harry gets under his skin the moment he walks into the bakery the next day.

“Why do you look like the walking dead?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I was up all night writing. What’s your excuse?” he snaps.

Liam looks horrified from where he’s standing, and actually, now that Louis is paying more attention Harry looks pretty damn good even though he’s covered in cake batter from head to toe. He hates him. “Are you two still fighting with each other?”

“No,” Harry and Louis answer at the same time.

When he and Harry got back yesterday Liam could tell in an instant that something was up. He was all worried eyes and crinkled eyebrows as he tried to figure out what went wrong. “What happened?” he asked, devastated that they were back to hating each other again after such a short amount of time together.

Louis stormed through the kitchen, desperate to get away. “Ask your best friend. He’s good at speaking for everyone else,” he spat before walking out.

Liam is wearing that same expression right now as he quietly watches the pair of them.

Harry breaks first. “We’re not fighting, Li. I was just teasing, right Louis?” Harry grins tightly.

Louis resists the urge to roll his eyes. He’s running on two hours of sleep and enough caffeine to keep an elephant awake, but he answers back for Liam’s sake. “Sure.”

He’s thankful when he gets to sit down with Liam later on. Louis asks what he looks for in a potential partner hoping Liam will talk enough to give him some material to work with, and because Liam is amazing, he delivers, listing off all the qualities he loves in the women he’s attracted to.

Having to interview Harry is not something Louis is particularly looking forward to today, even less so when he’s instructed to wash his hands upon entering the kitchen to help mix batter for a new cake. Harry is a mess as soon as they start, getting the ingredients virtually everywhere except in the damn bowl where they’re supposed to go. Louis would yell and tell Harry to be more careful if he thought it would actually make a difference. He decides to just get on with the interview so he can leave.

“What do you look for in a potential partner?” he asks, carefully measuring out sugar per Harry’s instruction. He adds it to the bowl Harry is hand-stirring with a large wooden spoon.

“I look for the regular things that everyone else does.”

Louis gives him a bored, flat look. “Elaborate.” Harry dips his finger into the mountain of flour he accidentally dumped on the counter and swipes it down the slope of Louis’ nose. He snorts a laugh at the way Louis’ face screws up trying to get it off.

“Well, for starters I like someone fun and funny obviously,” he cracks a smile at Louis’ pinched expression, sniffling like he can still feel the flour on his face. “I like to laugh a lot.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Louis tells him, still wiggling his nose. “What else?”

“Uh…I don’t know. Someone who is trustworthy so I can count on them of course… intelligent so we can talk about anything and everything. I like someone with a mind of their own,” he smirks, “A little arguing can be fun if it’s harmless.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Is that why you’re so horrible to me? You like to argue.”

Harry fixes him with a sympathetic gaze instead of the glare he was expecting. “I don’t mean to be horrible to you, Louis. I’m just trying to understand how you think.” _Yeah right_ , Louis thinks. He never sees Harry arguing with anyone else besides him.

Harry takes the batter over to the electric mixer to better blend it. “So, is that it?” Louis asks when he’s done and has come back to stand next to him. “Is that the magic combination of qualities one needs to win the heart of Harry Styles?” he asks sarcastically, thinking over the very short list he provided.

Harry lays out some baking pans and hands Louis the mixing bowl to start pouring. Harry is all in his space, watching as Louis pours it in evenly. “Well, I think those qualities are important, but that’s not all I look for. There’s also just simple connection, and not that it’s the most important thing, but I definitely look for physical attraction,” he says. “I appreciate good looks. A nice body and a good smile. And eyes,” he says dreamily. “I like eyes the best, especially when they’re blue. Blue is probably my favorite.”

The bowl is heavy in Louis’ hands and it slips a bit when Harry’s words register in his brain and he’s staring right at him. Harry is right there to catch it and help him regain his grip. “I think there’s a study about attraction and eye color. I think most people said they prefer blue,” Louis comments like Harry’s preference for his eye color is completely common. He has no clue if such a study exists, but he had to say something.

“Hmm,” Harry hums. “That’s interesting. I’ll have to look that up.”

“So, is that it?” Louis asks, pouring the last of the batter into the only pan left. It smells delicious already.

Harry seems to think it over. He goes over to the oven to check the temperature and make sure it’s preheated. “Yeah, after general attraction everything else I need starts to get really situational, like how often that person likes to go out or how often they like to have sex. Whether we even have sexual chemistry or not… those types of things vary so much that you can’t really group them in with other personality related stuff. You kind of have to explore those things together, you know?”

“Yeah,” Louis nods like he completely agrees when really he’s just caught off guard with the direction Harry has taken this interview. Harry reaches around him to grab a couple of the pans. He feels Harry’s arm brush against him as it has many times before, except this time it causes Louis to think about having sex with him. He finds that he doesn’t hate the image as much as he’d have thought. Honestly he’s more upset that he even allowed his mind to go there.

His brain is still in the gutter when Harry comes back to the counter to start cleaning up their mess. He is completely fixated on Harry’s lips, a place he never even thought to look before a few seconds ago.

Harry frowns when Louis’ eyes linger on his mouth and jawline and then even further down to where his collarbones disappear into his shirt.

Harry swipes over his neck and cheek to remove whatever it is he thinks Louis is staring at, but only succeeds at adding more flour to what was already there. Louis blames his exhaustion for his moment of complete delirium when he reaches up to gently wipe it away for him. It’s the first time he’s ever intentionally touched Harry, and the warmth of his skin makes Louis wonder why he’s never done it before.

“Thanks, Lou,” he smiles. “That was nice of you.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, and then adds, “Don’t call me that.”

“Why? You don’t like the name Lou?” Harry laughs.

He actually doesn’t mind the nickname. Most people close to him end up using it after a while. He just doesn’t like the feeling he gets when it’s coming from Harry. “I prefer Louis,” he lies.

Harry stares at him with this amused expression on his face before rolling his eyes. “Alright then, _Louis_. Since you want to be all formal.”

“Professional,” Louis corrects him. Harry laughs at that. The two of them have never been professional with each other.

“Right.. _.professional.”_


	9. Chapter 9

Niall looks concerned walking through Louis’ door on Saturday morning.  “Jesus, Tommo. When’s the last time you slept?” Louis shrugs, having trouble actually remembering. He had been getting in a couple of hours here and there at the beginning of the week, but these last couple of days have been rough.

“Well, I read what you sent last night,” Niall says, surveying the collection of mugs and trails of spilled sugar on Louis’ kitchen table. “You look like you’re dying, but what you’ve written so far sounds really good so I won’t judge your methods.”

Louis pours himself more coffee and slides down into his kitchen chair. “Thanks, Ni.” Niall raises an eyebrow at the size of the mug in Louis’ hand when he takes three large gulps. Louis lays his head down on the table. It feels so nice against his forehead.

“Uh…I had a few questions and some comments, but maybe I should let you take a nap first?” he asks unsure.

Louis attempts to shake his head without actually lifting it. “No, no, Niall. Please go ahead. I’m fine,” he insists. “ _Wide_ awake.”

“You don’t look fine, but okay,” Niall mumbles as he pulls up his notes from his phone. “First, I really like the way you start out with your perspective and how you gradually add in the other two people and their views. I like the analysis of their thoughts and beliefs. The chapter about defining love was really insightful. I think your readers will like that a lot…” Niall takes a long pause that causes Louis to sit up.

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. What you’ve got is good, Louis, it’s just- I can tell you’re kind of really focused on Harry, especially in the last few pages. You started off pretty objective, but the more I read the more I can feel you getting overly invested in what he thinks. It’s odd because you don’t seem as motivated or bothered by Liam.”

Maybe that’s because Liam doesn’t wake up on a mission each day to get a reaction out of him. “Oh? I hadn’t realized I was focusing so much on him.” It’s a lie. Harry is pretty much all Louis _can_ focus on these days.

“Yeah well… like I said, it’s not _bad_ , it’s just different from what I’m used to reading from you.” He scrolls a bit down his notes until he finds what he needs. “Like here, you asked about qualities in a potential partner. You briefly mention Liam’s responses in a paragraph or two but then you use over four pages to talk about how Harry’s boyfriend Sam fits none of the characteristics that he described…” Shit. Louis was so fucking wired a couple of nights ago that he hadn’t even realized he was ranting so much about Sam. “The ratio’s a bit unbalanced don’t you think?”

“I see what you mean.”

Niall nods. “Yeah, and that’s not the only weird bit.” Louis cringes. What else did he do, write a sonnet about the asshole? “In a later chapter you talk about sexual chemistry which is good, but then after a page or two you loop it back round to Harry again…”

Louis typed that part just hours ago. He didn’t even read over it before he sent it off to Niall as proof that he was working. He squeezes his eyes shut trying to remember what the hell he even wrote. “Um, what did I say exactly?”

Niall shifts in his chair with a small crease between his eyebrows. “Some really good things about healthy relationships and intimacy that sounds great,” Niall’s cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink after a brief pause, “But the parts where you’re trying to deduce what kind of lover Harry might be is pushing it, Lou.”

Louis scrubs his hands down his face, wondering if he really is going insane. “Shit. I thought I dreamed that! I didn’t know I had actually _written_ about it. Fuck, Niall, I was completely out of it last night. I’m sorry. I’ll go back and delete-”

Niall’s staring makes him lose his train of thought. “Wait,” he laughs. “You thought you _dreamed_ it? You’ve been having wet dreams about Harry?” Niall’s eyes are so amused that it makes Louis rush to deny.

“ _What_? _No!_ I haven’t, it’s just- it’s what I’ve been interviewing him about lately and I haven’t really been sleeping so my dreams are starting to get strange.” Strange is an understatement. Every time he closes his eyes all he can see is Harry and some faceless man fucking like Louis isn’t right there in the room watching. He has memorized every sound that dream Harry makes while he’s being sucked off, and when Louis wakes up he’s so hard that it’s painful. The dreams have gotten so graphic that the only way Louis could avoid them was a good old fashioned caffeine overload. Now he’s so awake he can hardly remember the way dream Harry’s arms look when they’re tied above his head, or the way he smirks while beckoning Louis to come join them.

Niall stares at him for a really long time. He sits his phone down, eyeing Louis like he’s about to give a lecture.

“Lou,” he starts carefully. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“I’d really prefer if you didn’t.” Louis sighs before taking another large gulp of coffee. He would also prefer for Niall to be less observant, but clearly Louis isn’t getting anything he wants today.

“You and Harry…is there something going on there?”

Louis makes an offended noise. “Of course not. He hates me. We hate each other.”

“He’s helping you though,” Niall points out.

“Only because Liam is. We fight almost every day, Niall.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. You quote him in chapter five saying a little arguing can be sexy. You’re one of the most opinionated people I’ve ever met. I’m sure you two get into some heated spats from time to time.” The fact that Harry likes to push his buttons hasn’t gone unnoticed by Louis, but all that has done is confirm that Harry is a nuisance.

Louis doesn’t need this nonsense from Niall right now. His heart rate is jacked from the caffeine. He hasn’t eaten anything in hours, maybe even days. He doesn’t even know anymore because he’s so exhausted.

“I promise you there is not, nor will there _ever_ be anything going on between me and Harry.” He doesn’t know if he’s convinced Niall or not, but he’s still staring at Louis like he’s crazy.

“Alright. Whatever you say, Louis, but I hope you know it’s your writing that’s giving you away. You always write about what you feel, and I spent nearly two hours last night reading about Harry Styles.”

Louis doesn’t respond to that as he turns his mug up and drains what’s left of it.

*

He drags himself through the door of the bakery a few hours later. There aren’t any customers up front and neither of the boys is there either. He finds Harry when he goes to drop his stuff off in the office causing Harry’s head to snap up from where he was working when he hears Louis come in.

“Sorry. I’m just putting my laptop in here. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Louis is already walking towards the kitchen to find Liam when he catches Harry’s voice.

“He’s not in there. He’s out on a delivery.” Louis comes back to lean against the doorframe with a sigh.

“Oh.”

“And you didn’t disturb me when you came in. I just didn’t expect you to be here on a Saturday.”

There’s a softness in Harry’s expression today that Louis’ never really seen before. He only acknowledges it for a second before giving Harry the same dull reply of, “Oh.”

Harry narrows his eyes at the shortness of his response. “Are you feeling okay, Louis?” Harry stands up, offering his chair to him. Louis waves him off, mumbling about how he’s fine. Harry comes around the desk and takes Louis’ wrist in his hand. Louis watched each step Harry took as he walked over, but the touch still makes him gasp when his warm fingers wrap around his skin. “You look awful,” Harry says, pulling him towards the desk chair.

Louis makes a half-assed attempt at a joke. “Is that what you say to all the boys?” He’s dying from sleep deprivation, so he isn’t even sure if it comes off as one. Luckily Harry gets it, smiling at him as he forces Louis to take his seat.

“Liam won’t be back for a while. You can relax in here for a bit until he gets here.”

Louis takes out his laptop. “Okay. I’ll just get some things done while I wait.” He can’t sit still doing nothing. Nothing leads to boredom, boredom leads to sleep, and sleep…well, one look at Harry’s smile and the flush of his own skin from where Harry touched him is all it takes to remind Louis of why sleep is a horrible idea.

“The laptop is the whole reason you’re as tired as you are,” Harry tells him. “You should take a break for a few minutes.”

Louis continues to decline as he politely smiles up at Harry. “There’s just a couple of things I need to edit. It’ll only take me a few minutes,” he assures him.

Harry shakes his head at Louis’ persistence. “Alright, but if you end up dying before this book comes out, Liam will be devastated and I’ll never forgive you.”

Louis grins, appreciating Harry trying to lighten things up between them. Usually they’re fighting by this point and Louis is about two seconds from punching him in the stomach.  “I guess I’ll just have to live then, won’t I? We can’t have Liam getting upset,” he grins.

*

Louis wakes up to the very strong scent of vanilla icing filling his nose. He sees the source when he opens his eyes, finding a large cupcake staring back at him. He tries to scroll through his document to see how much he got accomplished before passing out cold on Harry’s desk, but all he gets is a black screen because he let the battery die.

The cupcake is still there waiting, perfect and alluring as Louis carefully picks it up. He swipes his tongue through the frosting as he heads to the kitchen.

There’s just Harry, his back turned as he’s cleaning up and singing to himself again. Louis taps him on the shoulder to get his attention and hops up on the counter.

“You’re alive,” Harry grins. “I thought you were dead for sure when I forgot something in the office and you were already drooling. You had only been typing for five minutes.”

Louis can’t believe he fell asleep that fast. He probably didn’t get to edit anything at all. “Thanks for the snack. You didn’t have to do that.”

“You’re welcome. Lucky for you it’s Cupcake Saturday.” Louis frowns at that, now noticing all the colorful cupcakes surrounding them.

“What the hell is Cupcake Saturday?”

“There’s never enough batter left to make large cakes so we take all the left over and make cupcakes.” Harry hands him another when he finishes his first, this one frosted blue and white. “We give them to the homeless shelter.”

“I didn’t know that,” Louis says taking a bite of the fresh cupcake. This one’s chocolate, the sweet taste settling over his tongue. “That’s very kind of you and Liam.”

Harry shrugs. “It’s not like we can use what’s left and it’d be wrong to throw it out, so. It’s nothing.”

“Someone doesn’t seem to take compliments very well,” Louis smirks. “You could just say thank you. It’s not very often that we make it a whole day around each other without screaming or bloodshed.”

Harry grabs a cupcake of his own, but takes some icing off the top and wipes it on Louis’ nose. “Thank you,” he says innocently biting into his cupcake. It’s either the food in his stomach or the extended nap that causes him to find Harry charming rather than annoying in this moment.

Louis uses his finger to swipe the icing off his nose before licking it and sucking his own finger clean. Harry watches him with a soft grin as he continues to eat his own cupcake. “You missed some,” he laughs, and Louis holds his breath while Harry gently cleans the rest away with his thumb. Harry is still smiling when he dips his own thumb into his mouth to lick it off.

He smirks up at Louis after he resumes eating his cupcake, and Louis has seen that smirk on dream Harry’s lips before, but the one real Harry is wearing is so much more playful. It’s so much more alive.

Liam comes back a few minutes later to find to them still in the kitchen. He looks shocked to see them having a civilized debate over chocolate versus vanilla.

“Maybe I should leave the shop more often if you two get on like this when I’m gone.” It’s meant to be a joke, but it makes both Harry and Louis turn a light shade of pink under Liam’s gaze.

Louis helps them pack up the cupcakes and load them into the van. Harry offers to drop them off since Liam has been gone most of the day. Louis is surprised when Harry asks if he’d like to ride along. He politely declines, explaining that he needs to interview Liam while he has the chance.  

Liam looks delighted as they’re walking back into the shop. “I’m so happy you two aren’t yelling at each other!” he laughs. “I’m glad you were here with him today. He gets kind of quiet when he’s feeling down.”

Louis hops back onto the counter as Liam starts clearing the cupcake boxes away. “That’s weird. He seemed fine to me,” Louis comments.

“Yeah. Actually, he seems fine to me too. I thought he’d be more upset about him and Sam not working out, but I guess he’s okay.”

“Oh.” Suddenly Louis is a lot more interested in what Liam is saying. “Are they done?”

“Yeah, I guess so. That’s what he told me this morning. It’s weird though because Harry never really breaks up with anyone. Men usually end up hurting him if anything, so whatever made him do it must’ve been pretty important to him.”

There’s a moment where Louis actually feels relief knowing that Sam is no longer in the picture, but that doesn’t scare him as much as the feelings of fear and anxiety he has wondering what made Harry end it in the first place, or rather _whom_.

“And he didn’t say why?” Louis clears his throat, his tongue feeling heavy and sticky from all the sugar.

Liam shakes his head. “Nope. He didn’t. But like I said, Harry wouldn’t have done it for nothing so it’s probably for the best.” Louis nods his agreement, but his stomach feels like it’s in his throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update again really soon :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Louis had planned to be productive after he woke up, but all he has managed to do so far is bury himself under the sheets in an attempt to smother any romantic feelings or inclination he may have towards Harry.

The pornographic dreams where Harry is bound, naked, and writhing have yet to make another appearance since falling asleep at the bakery yesterday; instead, the dirty dreams have transformed. Now they’ve morphed into something a lot more disturbing than watching Harry fuck faceless men. Now his dreams feature the green of Harry’s eyes and the way they seem almost alive whenever he’s smiling. Dream Harry is softer now and more innocent as Louis watches him, and someone always reaches out to run their fingers over the smooth cut of Harry’s jaw as he laughs into the pillows, but instead of the faceless man, Louis wakes to find that it’s him reaching out to touch. Louis is well aware of the fact that you can’t exactly choose the people you’re attracted to, but he wishes for the sake of his sanity that his brain would choose somebody else, _anybody_ else besides Harry to latch onto.

He slept in for a bit, so it’s almost one in the afternoon when Louis finally drags himself and his stupid brain out of bed to get some food. He checks his phone on the way out of his bedroom and the missed call from Harry almost makes him abandon the whole day to crawl right back into bed and hide. The last time he spoke to Harry outside of the bakery was the night he called Louis in a rage, yelling about something that he wrote in his first book. That night feels so long ago that Louis had actually forgotten all about it. Now he’s reminded of the sound of Harry’s voice, frustrated, gravelly, and right next to his ear. Louis stands in his doorway holding the phone for so long that it eventually vibrates in his hand with a new message, ‘Are you coming in today?’

Considering his extension time is quickly dwindling, Louis probably should go to the shop today, but he doesn’t need more exposure to Harry. He’s already losing it. ‘It’s Sunday. I figured I’d give you two a break,’ Louis responds. ‘Tell Liam I’ll be there in the morning.’

‘He leaves early on Sundays. He’s not here, but I’ll text him and let him know.’

Louis stares down the phone like it’s dynamite in the palm his hand. It’s already weird for Harry to ask where he is…with Liam out of the picture for the day makes it even weirder. ‘You’re the only one there?’

Harry answers him back after a few minutes, confirming what Louis already knows to be true. ‘Yeah. The shop closed at noon, so I’m just hanging out. I usually save inventory for Sunday when it’s quiet.’

Louis doesn’t feel the soft grin that creeps up on him out of nowhere as he imagines Harry working in the peaceful silence in the kitchen with no one around to hear him singing to himself. ‘You must not like the quiet too much if you’re missing me hanging around asking questions all the time,’ he replies.

‘Yeah, you are pretty loud and annoying,’ Louis’ face turns down into an offended scowl. It’s quickly softened into a light grin when the rest of Harry’s message comes through. ‘But the office is free today, and I wouldn’t mind the company if you needed a place to write.’

There’s a small, extremely self-destructive piece of Louis that wants to take Harry up on his offer, but a larger and much more intelligent part of him knows that would be an incredibly _stupid_ thing to do. He declines even with his pulse racing the way it is. ‘I’m not actually in the city right now. I’m with my family.’

Harry doesn’t send anything back, and Louis can’t tell if the silence is good or bad, but he does know that he feels guilty for lying. ‘But I will be there tomorrow,’ Louis sends just in case Harry is back to hating him. ‘Extra loud and annoying to make up for today.’

Harry accepts that, sending an ‘Okay,’ as a response. He wishes Louis a good time with his family in another quick message, and Louis hasn’t felt this torn about a decision in his life.

There was no reason for him to lie about where he is. He could have just told Harry the truth. He could have admitted that he feels uncomfortable being in the shop alone with him for so long, but that would’ve created a whole new wave of questions; questions for which Louis has poorly constructed answers, so he chose the easy way out instead.

Avoiding spending the day alone with Harry turns out to be the best idea Louis has ever had when he decides to sit down and get some real work done. It was a great idea until Louis can’t seem to write anything about the man without wondering what he might be doing all by himself inside the bakery. It gets so bad that Louis almost considers texting or calling him just to see what he’s up to and make sure he’s alright, like the two of them are old mates or something, and since when does Louis worry whether or not Harry is lonely?

He shakes his head, realizing he’s getting into dangerous territory with this boy. Louis knows the amount of time he spends thinking about Harry is entirely too much, and he also knows _exactly_ what’s going on here, which is why he marches straight to his bookshelf in the living room and pulls out his own copy of _The Fairytale Complex_ and rereads the only part he wrote that might save him from doing something dumb.

“ _Most people end up getting involved in a string of serious relationships before fear, time, and the pressure to settle down cause a person to do just that, to settle. Because we’ve been taught to believe in the fairytale, we’ve also been taught to believe that we have failed if we haven’t pinned down the One within a certain amount of time. It’s pressure like this, that causes us to see the Prince Charming in almost anyone that holds our attention for longer than a couple of weeks._

_We’ve all done it before, over exaggerating in our minds so that the One seems larger than life itself, or making excuses and compromises for the parts of that person that are less desirable. We fill our heads with useless information about them, every sickeningly cute expression the person makes, all the while ignoring the parts of them that ultimately drive us insane. We do all of this and more in the name of loving someone fully and completely, faults and all, so that we can claim we’ve found the person meant for us._

_My Prince Charming wasn’t perfect, however I quickly convinced myself that he was. We made it through so many trials as a couple that I figured we must have been in love for us to work out for as long as we had. I could tell you about every fleck of gold in his eyes and how a flash of his smile could make my heart pitter-patter in my chest, but what good was any of that if the Charming Prince never felt the same way about me?_

_Those beginning stages of infatuation are what convinced me that Charming was the One, and they’re what confuse millions of people each day as they try to choose a life partner. Being able to find beauty in a person’s smile doesn’t mean you’re meant to be, it just means you’re attracted to them, and accepting a person’s flaws doesn’t mean you’re in love, it just means you’re tired of searching for something you can never really find.”_

He reads it like a mantra, over and over again until his own words are freshly re-tattooed into his brain. He doesn’t _like_ Harry, he just finds him attractive. And Harry isn’t sweet or caring wondering why Louis isn’t there at the shop, he’s just bored being there all by himself.

Louis closes the book, proud of himself for taking his own advice and seeing his attraction for Harry for exactly what it is; an attraction, nothing more and nothing less.

*

Louis takes another step to the side so that he’s not brushing arms with Harry at the countertop.

Harry cuts his eyes over at him, “You’re acting weird,” he comments, watching as Louis tries to put all of his concentration into the fondant flower he’s working on.

“You told me to help. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Harry grins at the lumpy mess in Louis’ hand trying to pass for a tulip. “You’re squeezing the fondant too hard. You’re making a mess. Here, let me show you.” Louis tells himself not to flinch when Harry reaches for his hand, but he still gasps at the touch. Harry narrows his eyes at him when he sees how tensely Louis is standing. “Are you not sleeping again?”

“I am sleeping just fine,” Louis says with a little bite behind it. He pulls his hand away from Harry to continue working on his flower, but he can still feel Harry’s eyes on him. He looks crestfallen at Louis’ tone.

“Why are you getting angry? I wasn’t asking to be mean.” Harry has been nothing but nice to him since he walked through the door, actually. Louis had expected him to be at a least a little bit of an asshole or do something annoying as hell, but so far he has been lovely. It’s highly suspicious behavior, if you ask him.

“Harry, can we just finish the flowers and get on with the interview?” Louis sighs.

Harry takes a step closer so that their arms are lined up again. “Fine. Whatever you want.” He snorts a laugh when Louis frowns and takes a deliberate step further away from him. He’s still smiling when Louis glares over at him, waiting for an answer. “I don’t remember the question,” Harry blinks innocently. Louis could shove his stupid, wonky flower down his throat.

He reminds himself to breathe before repeating himself. “Do you believe in fate or soul mates, or do you think everything is just chance?”

“You already know what I believe in.”

“Yes, but I’d like to hear it from you, if you don’t mind.”

“We’re just going to end up arguing over whatever I say.”

Louis closes his eyes as he lets out a sigh, already exhausted and they haven’t even started yet. “We’re about to start arguing right now if you keep avoiding my question.”

“Well, I think it’s only fair since you’ve been avoiding _me_ all day,” Harry points out. And _shit_. Louis didn’t think he had noticed how close he’d been staying to Liam. Louis followed him around the shop so much that he volunteered to go out on a delivery just to escape. Louis racks his brain for something to say, but can’t think of anything Harry would buy besides the truth, and _that_ is out of the question.

“Harry, please. Just answer the question,” he all but begs.

He’s stubborn so it takes him a few minutes, but eventually Harry starts talking. “I believe in fate.”

Louis waits for the rest of his explanation when that’s all he gets. “Okay, why?”

Harry shrugs, laying down his tulip. There’s a crease between his eyebrows as he thinks, his forearms covered in flour all the way up to his elbows where they’re resting against the counter. “I can’t really explain _why_ , it’s just something I feel. I don’t know…” He sounds frustrated with himself for not being able to express what he means.

“Just talk to me. It doesn’t have to be a formal answer or anything. I’m just curious about what you think.” Harry nods, his face still showing signs of deep thought.

“I think there are people on this Earth that are meant to be together. I think their entire lives exist outside of one another, until one day they collide. They find each other and it might happen right then and there, or it could happen five years down the road, but one day they look at each other and just _know._ ”

Louis nods at his naïve and very predictable answer. “Okay. That was good. That’s all I needed.”

“But,” Harry starts up again, “I don’t think it’s always quite that simple. I don’t think everyone gets to experience it…only a few.”

Louis frowns. “What do you mean? If you believe in soul mates then everyone has one person meant for them in the end.”

Harry grins, shaking his head. “See that’s the part I can’t really explain. I don’t think that’s necessarily true.” Louis puts down his flower to give Harry his full attention. He has never heard of someone creating their own rules for destiny, so he is all ears.

“Go on,” Louis presses, half amused and half intrigued.

“Well…I think everyone has a chance to find that one person, but sometimes we fuck it up for ourselves and we miss them. Like we sabotage what _could_ be great. Like maybe you’re in a relationship with someone, and you meet your soul mate just walking down the street. If you’re loyal to your significant other then you wouldn’t even look twice at the person you’re really meant for.” Louis can feel his face morphing into a frown. “If you’re not looking in the right place, you could miss your chance. Most people do.”

He takes a few seconds to think over Harry’s theory once he’s finished talking. Louis is convinced he’s insane. “Harry, that makes no sense.”

“Why? You believe in something that makes no sense to me. It’s not supposed to be easy. That’s why I think only a few lucky people ever get it right.”

Louis laughs to himself, amazed at the amount of sheer optimism Harry possesses. “I believe in reality where people settle down with someone they can tolerate and if all goes well they maybe get a family and a life out of it.”

“That’s a very mechanical way to look at things, Louis.”

Louis could stand here and argue his logical thinking, but he’s trying to keep their conversation civilized, and plus he’s more interested in the delusions Harry has created for himself. “So you said almost everyone misses their chance because they’re not paying attention. How often do you think that happens?”

“Oh, I think it happens all the time. We run into so many different people every day that we’re bound to cross paths with our soul mates at least once. I’m sure it’s happened to me before.” He feels Harry’s eyes on him again. “It’s probably even happened to you.”

Louis refuses to look at him when he disagrees. “I seriously doubt it.”

Harry sighs long and hard, and Louis knows he wants to keep pushing. He can feel how tense the air is with everything they’re not saying to each other. They stand in complete silence until Harry softly clears his throat. “Can I ask you something, Louis?”  Harry catches his quick nod. He softens his gaze and voice before continuing. “Did you really believe in fate before Isaac or did you make it up for the book?”

His question makes something tighten in his chest. He remembers meeting Isaac and thinking he might be the one for him. He had thought Isaac felt the same way, but. “I did.”

Harry nods at his answer, his words careful and calculated as he speaks. “And whatever happened between you two convinced you that fate and love aren’t real?” There’s sadness in Harry’s eyes as he waits for Louis to confirm or deny. Louis says nothing, letting his silence speak for itself. “Louis, you can’t let one relationship ruin every other possibility you might have. You could be happy with someone else. The _right_ someone else.”

“I don’t plan on having any other relationships or someone else’s, so no I won’t. I’m done with that part of my life. I don’t want to waste any more time on Prince Charmings.”

He watches the way Harry’s jaw tenses after his words. He expects Harry to start in on him, but instead he watches the anger slowly drain out of his face as he reaches out to gently cover Louis’ hand with his own. He links their fingers together, his warm green eyes, soft and compassionate when Louis dares to meet them. “I really wish you didn’t feel that way, Louis. I’m so sorry that you do.” Louis stares down at where their hands are linked, and suddenly he’s feeling very sorry for himself as well. “I’m sorry he hurt you,” Harry whispers, and Louis can tell that he means it.

Louis spent a lot of time being angry at Isaac for ending them, and he let himself get consumed by the hatred. He was so focused on holding a grudge and being heartbroken that Louis let himself become cynical. He clung to his pain until it changed him as a person. He doesn’t even remember the person he used to be. The person that was a lot like Harry.

Louis appreciates his kindness rather than the lecture he thought he was about to receive. He squeezes Harry’s hand back to let him know that his heart isn’t made completely of stone. “Me too.”

*

That night while Louis is busy pouring his heart out over his keyboard, he gets a text message from Harry. It’s the first one he’s gotten from him since the day he was alone in the shop. ‘I’m sorry about today. Hope you’re alright.’

Louis frowns at the time. ‘Do you always send apology texts this late at night? It’s almost two in the morning.’

There’s a few seconds that tick by without a response. ‘Couldn’t sleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay after earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you. I should have just dropped it.’

Louis finds it both odd and thoughtful for Harry to be so concerned about him when he should be sleeping. ‘Thanks for worrying, but I’m alright,’ Louis sends. ‘I’ve been fine for over a year now.’

‘Really? I thought I hurt you by bringing all that stuff up.’

‘It’s amazing what venting in the form of a four hundred page book can do for a person.’ Louis smiles realizing it’s true. Besides a couple moments of weakness every now and then when he’s thinking too much or feeling like shit about himself, he really is doing alright. ‘I’m fine, Styles. I promise.’

‘Good. I think I like it better when you’re yelling at me than when you don’t say anything. I thought you hated me.’

Contrary to what everyone thinks, Louis actually does have a heart, and it beats a little faster as he reads between the lines of what Harry is saying. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to ask really controversial questions tomorrow. I have a reputation to keep, after all.’

‘I look forward to our duel.’ Louis places his phone face-down, assuming that’s the end of their conversation. Something warm and vaguely familiar spreads through his chest when he reads the accompanying text Harry sends. The sensation is alarming because it makes his skin feel tingly and his cheeks feel warm from trying to fight a smile. He hasn’t felt that way in years, probably not since Isaac, and it’s nice to know that someone still has the ability to make him feel something, even if it is his sworn enemy. ‘Goodnight, Lou.’


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Louis is using every bit of patience and restraint he can muster to keep from strangling Harry with packaging ribbon and locking him in the freezer. Louis wasn’t even there half an hour before he somehow got roped into helping him in the kitchen. Everything started out fine with his and Harry’s caring little moment from the night before still lingering in the air, but it only took a few teasing comments gone wrong for all of that to dissipate, and now Harry is pretending Louis’ not even in the room as he works with his back to him. It’s a shame really. They were doing so well.

Louis glances over his shoulder at Harry ignoring him while cleaning the piping materials and listening to music. “Why can’t I ever help Liam up front?” he asks loud enough so he can be heard over the volume of Harry’s earbuds. “I don’t understand how I always get stuck in here with _you_ ,’ he shouts. Harry hasn’t given any signs of actually hearing him, so Louis finishes up his one-sided conversation with a mumbled, “ _Asshole_ ,” in his direction.

When Harry finally turns to meet him the first thing Louis notices is the cord to Harry’s earbuds dangling down by his waist, attached to absolutely nothing. The second thing he notices is the stupid smirk threating to take over Harry’s face.

“Sorry. Did you say something, Lou?”

“You know I did, and I asked you not to call me that,” he reminds him through gritted teeth.

“You just called me a worse name for no reason,” Harry points out.  The side of his body brushes Louis’ arm when he places the tools onto the counter. He smirks again when Louis takes a step away from him.

“You were ignoring me.That was plenty enough reason.”

Harry shows him the speaker cord that leads to nothing like it’s proof of his argument. He smiles at the frown Louis makes. “You might be the most dramatic person I’ve ever met.” Louis glares at him for so long that Harry bursts out laughing. He’s still giggling to himself when he finishes clearing away all the tools he was using. “I’m going up front,” Harry announces out of nowhere after he washes his hands at the sink even though the rest of his body is still a mess. He leaves Louis there standing right where he is.

He was going to be stubborn and pretend to not care that Harry left him there, but he doesn’t particularly want to be in the kitchen alone. It only takes a few seconds for Louis to run to the sink to rinse off his own hands before following Harry to the front of the shop.

Louis comes trudging in a few seconds after him, catching Harry’s amused expression when he sees Louis walk in. There’s a wedding party gathered around the display case, actively listening to Liam as he talks the future bride and groom through a design. Louis busies himself flipping through a cake catalogue while Harry ventures over to the group to read over Liam’s shoulder.

The people in the group all look up and smile when Harry greets them before quickly returning their attention back to Liam. All of them except one man whose eyes stay locked on Harry’s face. Besides the obvious couple, Louis hadn’t paid the other people in the group much attention, however this man sticks out, with his eyes still following Harry’s every move. Liam asks Harry to grab him a catalogue and the man watches every step that he takes. Harry finally notices the pair of eyes on him when he suddenly glances up, causing the man to grin and quickly look away.

Louis hopes the internal gag he just made was audible while he watches the gross scene play out like some invisible ghost in the corner.

Liam finishes with the group a few minutes later, and they all leave to head outside, all except for the man who is very obviously hanging back in hopes of speaking to Harry. The man jumps on his opportunity when Liam leaves the lobby area.

Louis watches the whole disgusting display: the shy yet endearing introduction, the nervous fidgeting along with the hesitant flirting, and just as Louis predicted, Harry looks delighted at being approached by this stranger. Every fiber of Louis’ being tells him not to do what he’s about to, but he’s never really been good at listening to his inner voice, and besides that, this guy looks way too… _something_ for Louis’ taste and he refuses to have Harry date an asshole, even if Harry does happen to be one himself.

He saunters over under the ruse of putting away the catalogue he’d been flipping through, and just when he hears their little conversation moving towards number exchanges, Louis makes his move, pretending like he just remembered something he needs to ask Harry.

“Oh! Hey Harry,” he skillfully interrupts, “Do you know when your boyfriend might be coming into the shop today?”

Harry looks dumbfounded, slowly blinking at Louis like he can’t believe he’s a real person standing in front of him. Louis glances over at the man and has to force himself not to smirk at his lost expression. Harry still hasn’t said anything so Louis fills the silence for both of them. “I don’t know if Sam would mind, but could you ask him to bring a coffee for me when he brings yours? Tell him I’d really appreciate it. He’d be a life saver, really.”

The man looks between Harry’s speechless gawking and Louis’ smug grin. He starts to look uncomfortable after only a few seconds. He gives them both a tight grin, “I should, uh, probably go catch up with everyone else…it was nice to meet you, Harry.” The man is gone before Harry can even respond.

Louis expects for Harry to do something bold like scowl deeply or yell at him at least, but all he does is consider Louis with calm, measured eyes. “Why’d you do that?”

Louis adopts the same oblivious tone that Harry always uses with him. “Hmm? Do what?”

Harry rolls his eyes. “Pretend like I’m still seeing Sam when you know that I’m not.”

“I didn’t know that,” Louis feigns ignorance. “You never said anything about it before.”

Harry fixes him with a bored look. “I know Liam told you and I can’t remember the last time Sam was in this bakery and neither can you.” Harry raises an eyebrow at him waiting for an explanation he’ll never get.

Louis changes the subject. “If you’re mad because you thought he was your soulmate or whatever then you should actually thank me,” Louis tells him.

“I should _thank_ you?” Harry laughs. Louis doesn’t know why. If anything Harry should be upset that he ruined his chance to at least have sex in the near future.

“I know you believe in fate and all that, but the universe wouldn’t let you be soulmates with someone who wears shoes that atrocious,” Louis mutters. “I did you a favor, mate.”

Harry rolls his eyes again as he walks back towards the kitchen. “If you were jealous you could’ve just said so.” He disappears through the walkway, once again leaving Louis alone where he’s standing, except this time Louis isn’t so keen to follow after him. This time he thinks Harry might actually be right.

*

Niall glances up when he’s finished scrolling through the new chapters. The silence was torture while he was reading and it’s even worse waiting for him to say something. “Well?”

“Are we still pretending there’s nothing going on between you and Harry?”

“Shut up.”

“So _yes_ …” Niall mumbles under his breath. “Well besides the fact that you’re border-line obsessed with one of your sources, it’s great! I have to say, I didn’t think you could pull this off in such a short amount of time, but you’ve really got yourself together, Lou.” Niall looks around at the complete wreck of a kitchen they’re sitting in and quickly amends his statement, “Well _mostly_ together….you look like you’ve slept within the last week or so, so that’s progress at least.”

Louis spent most of the previous night juggling writing his book with replying to Harry’s texts until the idiot finally passed out. It was just after midnight when the texts suddenly stopped coming, but to Louis’ surprise he didn’t have much trouble falling asleep after he and Harry discussed everything ranging from terrible ice cream flavors to whether or not cats are evil geniuses. What’s even more shocking than Louis getting actual sleep is that they didn’t argue with each other a single time.

Niall encourages Louis to keep doing whatever it is that’s getting him closer to finishing his book when he leaves. Louis subtly reminds him that he wouldn’t even have a book if it weren’t for Harry and Liam. The look Niall gives him is knowing, but thankfully he doesn’t mention the fact that he mostly means Harry.

*

Harry has been sneaking glances at him since they started mixing batter. Louis tries to find it more annoying than he really does. “Can I help you with something?” he asks as sarcastically as he possibly can.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Are you that bored?” Louis laughs.

Harry laughs too, his face absolutely covered with flour. Louis still has no clue how he ends up so messy. He still has to fight down on the urge to clean him off sometimes. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours. It’s blue.”

Louis definitely doesn’t say the first color that pops into his head. He doesn’t need Harry realizing that the green of his eyes has been captivating him since day one. “I guess I like orange.”

Harry makes a surprised face. “ _Orange_? There’s no way that’s your favorite.”

He scoffs at Harry’s assumption. “I think I know what my favorite color is, thank you very much.”

“Well, I think you’re lying. You’re not the type of person to like orange…” Harry stops mixing with the wooden spoon to consider him more carefully. They’re standing so close together that Louis takes a small step away from him. He already expects it when Harry follows him, taking a step closer so that their arms touch again. “No…” he decides again. “You’re definitely not the orange type. What’s your second favorite, then?”

Louis shrugs, feeling attacked all of a sudden. “I don’t know, Harry? Who cares?”

“You wear a lot of green. I would’ve thought you liked that.”

“I like all the colors. There’s no rule saying I have to have a favorite.”

Harry smiles and the mossy color of his eyes shine when Louis meets them.

“Yeah, but I think you do have a favorite.” Louis makes himself focus somewhere besides the richness of Harry’s gaze. He averts his eyes lower, and his pulse picks up when he realizes he’s staring right at Harry’s lips instead. They turn up into a knowing grin, and this time Louis averts his eyes to the cake batter where they belong. Louis makes sure to keep himself in check for the rest of the day even though he can sense Harry watching him.

*

Interviewing goes rather smoothly on Friday. He’s in the office working when Liam steps in wearing a jacket and tie. “Have you seen my keys? I put them down and now I can’t remember where.”

Louis glances around the room, but doesn’t see them. “Sorry, haven’t seen them.” Liam frowns as he continues his search. Louis notices how nice his outfit looks on him. Usually he’s dressed for work at the bakery. “Why are you so dressed up?”

Harry answers for his friend when he steps into the office. “We did a cake for our mate’s wedding! We’re closing an hour early so we can make the reception.”

Harry is speaking to him, but Louis is only half paying attention. He can’t concentrate on what Harry’s saying when his dark jacket fits so nicely around his shoulders and his shirt is half unbuttoned down his chest. His curls are loose, framing his face and falling softly around his shoulders, and for the first time since Louis has known him, his skin is free from anything cake related.

Louis doesn’t realize he’s staring until Liam’s voice brings back his focus. “We’re going to deliver the cake whenever I find my stupid keys,” he groans. Harry smirks at how Louis still looks half dazed by his appearance.

“You should come with us,” he suggests out of nowhere. “You can be me and Liam’s plus one for the evening.”

Liam whips around at that. “You should! We never hang out outside of the bakery, and you’ve been working in here all day! You could use the break… we all could,” Liam reasons.

Harry is still grinning at him, trying to entice Louis into agreeing, when honestly he doesn’t even have to try so hard. Louis was sold when he came in wearing those jeans. “I’m not really dressed for a wedding. Are you sure I can just show up like this?” Louis stands to look at himself, but Liam and Harry assure him that he looks fine.

“We can stop by mine and get you jacket if it’ll make you feel better,” Liam suggests. “It’s on the way.”

Liam’s big brown eyes stare him down while he makes the decision. Louis looks up at Harry standing in the doorway, his eyes playful and shining as he patiently awaits Louis’ answer. Louis can’t look at him for too long. It makes his stomach do restless things. “Well, I guess we better find the keys so we’ll have time to get the jacket.”

There’s excitement all around as they  prepare for their night away from the shop, but Harry’s soft grin is the confirmation he needs to know that he has made the right choice.

*

He helps carry the cake to the venue’s kitchen and deposit it on a circular rolling cart. They can already hear the guests in the adjoining room, laughing and celebrating as music plays.

“I’m going to go let James know we’re here,” Harry tells them. “Save me a seat?”

He looks right at Louis when he makes his request. He’s powerless to do anything but nod.

The room is filled with round tables dressed in white cloths all surrounding the makeshift dancefloor in the center. They get called over to a table near the back of the room by a girl that Liam seems to know. He takes the empty seat next to her, and pulls Louis down into the chair next to his. Louis makes sure no one sits in the seat to his right.

The girl, Jade, introduces Liam to the table, then kindly introduces herself to Louis. Liam starts up conversation with the people surrounding them, so Louis’ relived when Harry finally makes his way over. He slides down next to Louis, placing a few flutes of champagne down in front of them.

“I stole these,” he smiles, pushing one of the glasses closer to Liam. “We have to catch up if we’re going to dance with everyone else.”

“You’d have to steal stronger alcohol than this for me to go anywhere near that dancefloor.” Louis eyes the guests already making fools of themselves. He refuses to be one of them.

Harry grins, taking a sip of his drink. “Only time will tell.”

A couple of hours have passed, and Louis hasn’t been doing that great of a job at keeping track of how many drinks he has downed, but somehow he’s had more than the couple he allotted himself and his stomach feels all warm. He blames Harry for that and for the sudden urge he keeps feeling to get up and move each time a familiar song plays.

The bride and groom sliced the cake a little while ago, so all the sugar coupled with the champagne has him feeling restless in his seat. Liam has been talking with a girl named Sophia pretty much since they arrived. Louis’ fidgeting only gets worse when they leave the table to go dance with everyone else.

“No one’s making you sit there, you know.”

Louis rolls his eyes at the annoying bastard beside him. It’s his fault he feels as drunk as he does. “This is your fault,” he tells him.

Harry cackles, the alcohol clearly getting to him as well. “I didn’t _make_ you drink all of that. You did all the drinking. I merely provided it.”

Louis ignores him, choosing instead to watch Liam and Sophia as the song they’re dancing to blends into a much slower one.

“Do you know that girl he’s with?”

Harry’s eyes search the crowded floor until he spots his friend. “Mmm kind of. She’s friends with Jade, I think….why?”

Louis shrugs, not really sure why he wanted to know anymore. “I don’t know. Just curious.” He watches them dance for a while longer, wondering if Liam is having as good of a time as he seems. He deserves to have a night of fun.

Louis takes another sip of the glass he’s currently working on and he can feel Harry still watching him. “Come dance with me,” he nudges, poking Louis in the side with his elbow.

Louis scoffs. “Not a chance.” The pout Harry wears as he whines shouldn’t make Louis smile the way it does.

“Oh come on, Lou! Look how much fun everyone is having!”

“That’s not _fun_ we’re witnessing, it’s intoxication, and I’m not nearly drunk enough for that.” Louis catches the way Harry is scowling at him. “What?”

“I answer _all_ of your interview questions and I read your first book.”

“So?”

“I haven’t even asked to read what you’ve been writing about me for the second, I let you ruin my fondant flowers when you _help_ , and you’re annoying as hell. The _least_ you could do is dance with me for one song.” He’s about to tell Harry to go straight to hell, but he looks less pouty and more serious now. Louis takes a deep breath, shocked that he’s actually considering it. “Come on, come on, come on!” Harry pleads when he can see Louis’ resolve crumbling. Louis hates him.

“Alright, fine. I will agree to just _one_ song. After that you’re going to have to coerce someone else into dancing with you.”

Harry cheers at his win, already standing to pull Louis’ chair out for him. He offers his hand as well, which Louis quickly declines. “I’m not that drunk, Styles _. Jesus_.”

They walk side by side until they find a small space in the middle. There’s an awkward few seconds where Louis doesn’t quite know how they’re going to do this, but Harry takes the lead, resting his hands along Louis’ waist as they start to move to the slow song playing overhead. Harry is close to him; too close, really, and out here there’s no way Louis can distance himself, so he tries talking to help distract them. “You only get one song and you choose this sappy one?” he complains.

“I like this song.”

“Why? Because it’s about _love_?” Louis does air quotes behind Harry’s head where his arms are resting along his shoulders.

“No,” he says, offended. “I like it because it’s a good song…” he pauses, “ _And_ it’s about love!” He smiles. Louis hates when he does that. He also finds that he hates when he doesn’t.

They go quiet. Louis watches the other dancers around them rather than Harry. They sway for a little while until Harry breaks their silence. “How far have you gotten with your book?”

Louis is glad for the distraction. “Almost finished, I think. I have another week until I have to send it in.” Louis never thought he’d be able to say those words. He also never thought he’d be almost chest to chest with Harry Styles, but.

“Is it as good as your first one?”

Louis laughs at his fake flattery. “You hated my first one.”

“I didn’t appreciate the _content_ of your first book. The writing itself was great, though,” he laughs. “I’m looking forward to reading what you’ve been working on. I’m sure you’ve done a good job.” Louis is surprised by that. He was sure Harry wanted nothing to do with his writing.

“Well, this book isn’t as…angry, I guess. There’s no Prince Charming this time so I had to write about other things.”

Harry’s expression changes at the mention of Isaac. He looks torn for a few seconds before speaking. “Can I ask you a question about him?” He waits for Louis’ approval before continuing. “What exactly happened? Why didn’t you go through with the marriage?”

Louis clears his throat when it feels a little tighter than usual. “Oh…you don’t want me to bore you with all that.” He tries to smile.

Harry stops them from swaying, his eyes soft and sincere where he holds Louis’ gaze. “I want to know.”

Louis shrugs, not really up for arguing over something as silly as this tonight. He doesn’t particularly want to tell Harry about his tragic love story either, but he is the one asking for it.

“We got engaged after seven months of knowing each other. _I know_ ,” Louis sighs, seeing the way Harry’s eyebrows crease. “Everything with Isaac was always really quick, and one day we were just walking down the street, talking and laughing. He turned to me out of nowhere and asked if I wanted to get married. I said yes, thinking we were just talking like we always did, you know, like for the future or whatever, but the next day I woke up and there was a ring on my finger. We were so happy…” Louis smiles at the memory. It quickly fades. “It happened too fast. I knew it did, but it all felt so good that I didn’t want it to end.”

He can’t tell what Harry is thinking yet. He processes for a few seconds then asks him to continue. “Then what happened? How did you go from _that_ , to…”

“Spewing hatred in a book?” Louis laughs even though there’s nothing funny about it. It makes Harry frown. “Things were good for a couple of months. We never really set a wedding date. I just started planning this big, huge thing with no end in mind. After a while I knew things were a bit weird when our engagement had gone on longer than the relationship we had beforehand.” Louis hates having to say all of this out loud. It doesn’t exactly hurt him to think about it anymore, but it does make him feel sad for being so stupid. “We were engaged for almost two years and then things just started _ending_. He was never around anymore, he wouldn’t come straight home after work, he was lying all the time and sneaking around. I could tell he didn’t want to be there and I still convinced myself that we were going to be fine.”

“Because you loved him.”

Louis doesn’t exactly have the energy to argue with him this time. “I got home from work one day and I knew something was up because he had beaten me there. He ordered food and set it out for us at the table. I thought maybe he was trying to fix us… be romantic, but then he sat me down and told me he had fallen in love with someone else. He said he met this other guy and that he didn’t mean to fall in love, but he couldn’t help what his heart wanted. That clearly wasn’t me anymore, and so he left.”

They’re standing completely still in the center of everyone. He can see the sympathy forming in Harry’s eyes and he doesn’t want any of it. “It’s fine, Harry.”

“It’s not,” Harry says in an angry tone Louis’ never heard from him before. “That asshole shouldn’t have done that to you. He should’ve told you sooner.”

“Well….we both should’ve done a lot of things. He’s engaged to that guy now, and he’s happy, so-”

“But you’re not happy,” Harry interrupts. “He got to fall in love _twice_ , he walked out on you, and he gets the fiancé and the marriage? That’s not how it should’ve gone.”

“I got a best-selling book out of it, so I didn’t come out empty handed… I don’t need any of that stuff anymore. I told you I don’t want it.” Sometimes Louis thinks he might still want it… “It hurts too much.”

Harry’s grip tightens around his waist. “It doesn’t hurt when you’re with someone who’s good for you, Lou.”

He can’t look at Harry without running the risk of tearing up, so he looks at the floor instead. This conversation is too heavy for him. They’ve been dancing for a lot longer than one fucking song, and Louis really has to find a bathroom before his bladder explodes.

He gently removes himself from Harry’s grip. “You don’t have to be mad at Isaac on my behalf. I already told you I’m better off without him…without anyone. I’m fine, I swear.” He tries to give Harry a convincing smile to show that he’s truly alright, but he already knows that Harry doesn’t believe him. He never believes anything Louis tries to convince him of.

He succeeds in getting away, searching around until he finds the restroom. He uses the time away from everyone to get himself together and stop lamenting something that happened so long ago. When he steps out again to rejoin everyone else he gets stopped by Harry standing in the hall.

“I told you I’m fine, Harry. You didn’t have to follow me.”

Harry’s eyes aren’t quite as sad as when Louis left him on the dancefloor, but they are definitely more determined. “You’re not fine. Stop saying that, because I know you’re not, Lou.”

He sighs, letting the wall support all of his weight as he leans against it. “I asked you not to call me that. You _never_ listen to me,” Louis whines.

“Well, you pretend like you don’t have feelings or that talking about Isaac doesn’t hurt you. You needed my help to finish your book, but you didn’t want to come right out and ask, and now you’re pretending like you don’t have any feelings for me.” Louis blinks up at that, his mouth already forming the lie to deny it, but Harry cuts him off. “You’re not as good at lying as you think you are, Louis.”

“Harry, I’m not- I don’t …What are you talking about?” Louis tries to laugh it off like Harry’s insane, pushing away from the wall to escape. He’ll have to walk past Harry to get back to the reception, so he chooses to go the opposite way instead, hoping it leads to another room or at least an exit. Harry is right on his heels.

“Where are you going?”

“Leaving. Clearly we’ve both had a lot to drink. We’re just going to start arguing this way. I’m going to get a cab.”

Harry walks ahead to stand in front of him and block his way. “We wouldn’t argue so much if you’d just tell the truth for once. I see the way you look at me. The world’s not going to end if you do something about it.” His words lose their heat as he finishes. “Kissing me wouldn’t be the worst thing you could do.”

It feels like a trap. His eyes flick down to Harry’s lips, so pink and beautiful. He imagines the sweet taste of them if he were to just lean in, but the image of the smug, arrogant smirk Harry would sport after the kiss stops him from moving. “You’ll just use it against me!” Louis tells him. “It’s all a joke to you.”

Harry bursts out laughing at that, but it’s humorless. “I broke up with my boyfriend for you, Lou. I knew he and I weren’t right for each other, but _we_ could be.”

Louis groans, rolling his eyes. “Don’t start with that soulmate shit again. I already told you it doesn’t exist, because there’s no such thing as-” He doesn’t get to finish his rant because Harry steps forward and kisses him.

It’s such a foreign feeling that Louis freezes against him, unsure of what to do with so much of Harry in his face at once. He can taste the champagne on his tongue and feel the way his hands are gripping into his side when he leans them against the wall. His lips are warm, and even though they’re not in the bakery, Louis can still smell it all in his hair and on his clothes. It’s intoxicating just breathing him in.

Harry’s movement against him slow down and he pulls back just enough to meet Louis’ eyes. Louis can still feel his soft breaths hitting his skin as Harry looks for signs of immediate distress on his face. There are none, because believe it or not, Louis is speechless.

He doesn’t protest when Harry pulls him back in, those soft lips he spent so much time dreaming about feeling a million times better than he ever imagined. This time Louis is the one to pull away, trying to hide his blush as he wipes at his mouth. Harry isn’t even bothering to hide how much he enjoyed that, leaning back against the wall just to watch him.

They stand there for a moment in new territory as Louis tries to figure out how to be in the same vicinity as Harry now that they’ve crossed the line. He says the first thing that comes to his mind. “Are you going to tell Liam?” He knows Harry is evil, but he doesn’t think he’d do anything to actually hurt him like use this moment of weakness against him.

Harry frowns. “No Lou…only if you want me to. We don’t have to tell anybody,” Louis nods, grateful for that at least. “But you do have to promise me you’ll stop lying about what you want. If you want to hate Isaac, then fine, hate him. If you want to kiss me, then do it. Stop pretending all the time. It’s not healthy.”

Louis’ first instinct is to tell Harry to fuck off, but then he actually listens to what he’s saying and realizes that he might be right, _again_. He shudders at the thought, but gives Harry a quick nod.

He fixes his jacket on his shoulders, clearing his throat. He doesn’t know what the hell he’ s doing. “So now what?” Louis asks, unsure. He could barely figure out how to deal with Harry when they were rivals. How the hell is he supposed to act around him now when they’re…whatever they just made themselves? _Friends?_ Surely not.

Harry shrugs with a small grin on his lips. “I don’t know…the music’s still playing... I could go for another song or two if you could.”

“Just because we kissed doesn’t mean I suddenly like dancing.” Harry smirks at the annoyance in his voice.

“Yeah, but it does mean you like _me_.” He’s a smug bastard, reaching out to try and take Louis’ hand in his. Louis won’t even let him get close as he steps around him.

“I’ll dance, but I am not holding your hand.”

“Because that makes _perfect_ sense. I’m going to be holding your _waist_ , Louis. What difference does it make if I walk you to the dance floor.”

“I don’t know, but it matters to me.” Louis shrugs walking past him. “You get two songs. Take it or leave it.” He hears Harry huff a sigh of frustration behind him. He grins when he hears quick footsteps hurrying to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a goal of 30K for this one. I'm currently laughing at my optimism.
> 
> Thanks again if you're reading! I'll post a new chapter soon :)


	12. Chapter 12

When Louis blinks himself awake the next morning he’s shocked to find that his head feels perfectly fine. His entire body is virtually hangover free, which seems impossible considering how much champagne he drank the night before, but even though he feels physically unchanged he can’t shake the sense of unease wedged deep inside his chest. Alcohol consumption has nothing to do with his anxiety, no; that restless, heavy feeling churning at the pit of his stomach can only be described as the aftermath of one Harry Styles.

Louis was all grins and shy smiles as he and Harry swayed together on the outskirts of the dancefloor, the pair of them blending in amongst the other guests, with no one paying them any attention. They had kissed just moments before. A weird, thrilling secret that no one else knew, and Louis had held onto the exhilaration of being a part of it. He liked it so much that when they all finally left the reception, Louis suggested that Liam get dropped off first just for the opportunity to be alone with Harry again. They were silent for the entire ride, but the goodbye kiss Harry left on his lips when the cab arrived outside of his flat was a high like nothing Louis has ever experienced. The smile Harry wore as he shuffled out of the backseat is forever burned into his memory, and that’s exactly how Louis knows that he has tremendously fucked up.

He goes back and forth with himself for the entire morning trying to decide whether or not he can handle being stuck in a bakery with Harry all day long. Liam is busy working with a couple on a design when Louis finds the will to drag himself in. Liam squints up at him, offering Louis half of a wave like his arm is just too weak to support itself. Louis is sympathetic, knowing that it could’ve easily been him this morning waking up with his brain slamming against his skull.

He tells himself not to, but his eyes scan the room for Harry regardless. Liam interrupts his consultation when he catches Louis casually searching the lobby. “He’s in the back frosting cupcakes,” he says looking a bit off-color as he points Louis in the one direction he definitely does not need to go. Being alone with Harry is probably the last thing he needs, but it doesn’t stop Louis from thanking his friend, heading to the kitchen, and walking straight into trouble.

Harry glances up from where he’s working when Louis enters the room. It scares him at first, how intently Harry watches him, but suddenly his unreadable expression melts into a warm, welcoming grin.

“Looks like someone slept in. You almost missed cupcake Saturday,” he teases, his playful tone releasing Louis’ chest from the tight ball of tension that had collected there.

He comes to stand next to Harry like he would on any other day, except today Harry wastes no time moving closer, his gaze dropping to the very hesitant pair of lips in front of him. Louis doesn’t know if his panic is visibly noticeable, but something in his expression makes Harry rethink whatever he was about to do.

Harry steps back, creating space between them. He clears his throat and starts talking again like nothing happened. “So how are you feeling?”

Louis breathes easier.

He and Harry having a new dynamic and set of rules for their relationship wasn’t as scary of a prospect last night when Harry had him gently pinned against a wall. He knows how to be around Harry when they’re making an effort to hate each other, but it’s completely different when Louis is so affected by him just being there.

Harry raises an eyebrow when Louis takes far too long to answer his simple question. He glances over, following Louis’ gaze to where it’s focused on his mouth, but doesn’t make an effort to close the gap between them.

Louis doesn’t move either. He doesn’t even breathe, and after a few moments of silent waiting Harry sighs with disappointment clear on his face. He picks up his frosting again, not even meeting Louis’ eyes anymore. 

“Lou...what did we talk about last night?”

“I don’t know. We talked about lots of stuff.”  Louis shrugs, sounding defensive and more than annoyed with himself. Harry Styles should not have any sort of effect on him whatsoever. It shouldn’t be this difficult for him to act normal. Louis knows he should try and be less obvious, but he can’t bring himself to look away.

Harry studies him for a long time, watching as Louis silently contemplates why out of all the pairs of lips in the world, he chose to be fixated on Harry’s. Harry places his finished cupcake on the counter next to the others, watching Louis with the same amount of intensity as when he walked in. “I’ve already told you, if you want something from me then take it,” he says.

“I don’t want anything.”

Harry rolls his eyes, clearing not buying his bullshit today. “It’s obvious that we’re both attracted to each other,” he says matter-of-factly, “There’s no point in you pretending otherwise. If you want to kiss me then do it. Don’t just stand there thinking about it all day.”

“Don’t just _assume_ I want to kiss you. I never said that,” Louis snaps at him.

“You don’t have to fucking say it,” he laughs to himself, “I can _feel_ it just like last night.”

Louis maintains that Harry is insane. “Last night was…” _amazing_ , _wonderful_ , _at times_ _even exquisite_. “Last night was last night,” he says with finality.

Harry raises another eyebrow at him, clearly amused at the great lengths Louis is willing to go to in order to continue lying about his feelings.

“Right. So last night was nothing.”

“Nothing,” Louis confirms.

“And you don’t feel anything when you look at me…. I’m just like a stranger, or Liam, or your dad.”

“…Uh…yes?” This one’s a little harder to lie about. He definitely doesn’t think about anyone the way he thinks of Harry. Maybe it’s the way Harry phrased the question, but Louis isn’t entirely sure of what he asked to be honest. His focus is still elsewhere, drifting, _remembering_.

“Hmph.” Harry picks up one of the finished cupcakes, gently peeling off the wrapper with his fingers. He teasingly pokes out his tongue to take a bit of frosting off the top, and Louis watches every single movement. “So _this_ doesn’t bother you?”

He watches Harry lick an obscene upward stripe through the rest of the frosting, getting a bit on the side of his mouth and his fingertips. Louis has to use all of his strength to keep his face neutral, however a small sound escapes him when Harry sucks the mess off his thumb, the suction of his wet lips making a soft pop when he’s clean.

He stares at Louis, blinking innocently down at him like he isn’t singlehandedly ruining him with a fucking pastry. “Nothing, right?”

Louis meant to say yes or nod or _something_ , but now he’s too shocked to say anything at all. And since when did Harry learn to play this dirty, anyway?

“I hate you,” is all he manages.

“That’s odd. I thought you said you didn’t feel anything towards me,” he smirks.

The asshole eats the rest of his stupid cupcake and then resumes frosting the ones that are left, the whole time wearing a dumb smirk which Louis is about ninety-eight percent sure he’s about to slap off his face.

He’s about to go find Liam when Harry turns to him. “Hey, can you hold this one?” Harry asks, holding out one with light blue frosting. Louis reaches for it, but instead of it being placed in the palm of his hand like he expected, Harry smears it all over his face.

Louis splutters, immediately reaching up to wipe the frosting away, but changing his mind once he realizes he’ll only make a bigger mess that way. He can feel the angry heat pooling in his cheeks with each passing second Harry grins at him.

“ _What the fuck, Harry?_ Why would you do that?” He’s still standing there with his hands outstretched, hoping frosting didn’t land on his shirt. Louis moves to grab a towel from over by the sink, but Harry stops him before he can go stomping off, placing a firm grip around his waist. There’s a sharp intake of breath when he feels Harry’s mouth pressed hot and sweet against his lips, and any fight he had from getting a face full of cake is quickly extinguished.

By the time Harry lets him go Louis is so stunned that he’s frozen in place, the towel he needed long forgotten and his heart pounding in his chest. Harry tilts his chip up to make Louis look at him, thumbing over his sticky bottom lip, and wiping away any remaining streaks of sugary blue. He leans in once more leaving a slow burning kiss on Louis’ lips like an apology. “Good as new.”

Louis can’t decide how he feels about Harry in this particular sticky moment in time. He’s equal parts angry and aroused and it makes no sense in his head, how this idiot is slowly winning him over. He can’t express what he feels, but he does know one thing that’s for certain. “You are _fucking_ _ridiculous._ ”

He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but Harry still grins. He places another soft kiss to Louis’ temple, licking his lips when he tastes more frosting from somewhere on Louis’ face. “Thanks, love.”

Louis had the initial urge to shove him off, but didn’t have the heart to follow through. “You could’ve just kissed me like a normal person, you know. You didn’t have to shove frosting up my bloody nose,” Louis says bitterly.

“You’re the one who was too scared to kiss _me_ ,” Harry points out. “I’m glad you didn’t though. I like my way better.”

Louis scoffs, “Which way is that? Suffocating me with frosting?” he says flatly. Harry’s eyes are genuine when he answers.

“No. I like watching your philosophies fly out the window whenever we kiss.”

*

He sends Niall two new chapters the next morning with a subject line of, _you don’t have to say it I already know_. He waits an agonizing half of an hour for Niall to reply, cringing because somehow his book about starting over without a partner has turned into Louis’ personal diary about Harry Styles. Niall tells him it’s good work. He always does, except these days Niall’s praise is always followed with questions of concerns for his friend.

 _‘'_ Lou, are you going to be okay when all of this is done?’

Louis hasn’t given much thought to when he no longer has an excuse to be so preoccupied with Harry. He can’t believe how fast these few weeks have flown by, and his deadline is only five days away. Louis reassures him that he’ll be just fine, even though he’s not sure if it’s the truth anymore.

 _‘_ Will Harry be okay, though? I know it’s kind of against the rules, but maybe he should get to read it before you send it in. The book is mostly about him and he has no idea. _’_

There’s no way he could ever look Harry in the eye again if he knew how much Louis hated him in the beginning and how very quickly Louis is falling for him now. This book is going to come out eventually, and he’ll be livid, reading pages upon pages of things Louis feels but could never say out loud. All Harry wants from him is honesty, and Louis can’t even bring himself to walk up and kiss him when he wants to.

He doesn’t know what to say to Niall so he doesn’t say anything. The staring contest he has going with his computer screen gets interrupted when his phone vibrates on the table. He grins, reading Harry’s text.

‘Come do inventory with me.’

Last week he was afraid of what might happen if he and Harry were alone together for more than a few minutes at a time. Louis’ worst case scenario already took place the night Harry first kissed him. There isn’t anything to be scared of anymore when he answers, ‘Okay.’

*

Harry is patiently waiting for him at the front door when Louis arrives. He searches Louis’ face for any hesitance today and finds none, gently tilting Louis’ chin up. A hello kiss is something Louis hasn’t received in a long time. In his effort to erase every part of Isaac from his memory, he almost forgot how good they could feel.

Harry studies him when he pulls back, his lips curved into a soft smile that Louis can’t quite read.

“What? Disappointed there’s nothing to lick off my face?”

His eyes turn fond again after he’s done laughing. “No…this is just really nice, is all. Different.”

“Yeah, you haven’t done something ridiculous and I haven’t had to punch you… _yet_.”

Harry smirks, stealing another kiss before he walks away. “Well, the day is young. There’s still plenty of time for all of that,” he says over his shoulder.

It’s a lot different being in the shop with no one else around. He watches Harry walk around the kitchen taking inventory of ingredients while they have civilized conversation about normal things like Louis’ family or how Harry and Liam came to own a bakery together.

They end the day in the office with Harry responding to emails and Louis pretending to work on his rough draft. He sighs at the bit of writer’s block he’s having, causing Harry to smile up at him. Louis grins back and is surprised when Harry stands to walk over to his side of the desk.

He massages Louis’ shoulders from where he’s standing behind him, “How much longer until it’s finished?”

Louis sinks into the feel of Harry’s hands. He could probably fall asleep right now if he keeps doing it. “I don’t know. Maybe a chapter or two more? It’s due on Friday so I need to wind it down.”

Harry presses down into the muscles of his back. “Am I allowed to read any of it?”

Louis’ eyes fly open. He hurries to scroll down to a blank page so Harry can’t see anything. “Sure, but uh…it’s not finished yet. You’ll have to wait with everyone else.” Louis cranes his head to smile up at him to see if he noticed Louis’ little panic. He gets a playful smile in return.

“I have to wait? I thought I was special since I’m the interviewee.”

Harry has no idea how special of an interviewee he actually is. He’s so special that most of the writing Louis has done has featured only him. “I might tell you the title before anyone else. That’s the best I can do,” Louis tells him.

His heart picks up when Harry drops a kiss to the top of his head, laughing at Louis’ attempt at a compromise. “I’ll take what I can get, I suppose.”


	13. Chapter 13

The stress of coming up with an end to his book feels almost as daunting as beginning the thing in the first place. The pages look great as he blindly scrolls from top to bottom, not really wanting to read his own opinions and insights at the moment. He has been so focused on the quantity of pages of his sequel that he never really took time to think about the resolution of his work. The message of his first book is nothing like the secret confessions he spilled for the second, and now that it’s almost time to send it in, he can’t imagine an ending that would make sense to his readers without revealing himself as a complete hypocrite.

His sleep is restless again now that the pressure is weighing down on him, and somehow the only person who makes him feel better is the one person he shouldn’t feel anything for at all. Harry keeps insisting that he has no reason to be worried about his book and that great writing speaks for itself, but Harry’s kind words aren’t exactly encouraging when Louis knows that out of all his readers, Harry will be the one most affected by its release.

Louis walks into the bakery the next morning expecting to find him, poised and waiting with mischief written all over his face, but Harry’s nowhere to be seen. Liam waves him into the kitchen when Louis pokes his head in, double checking that Harry isn’t in there somewhere working.

“Louis!” He notices Louis’ eyes scanning the room, “Harry’s out at the moment, but come in, come in!” he smiles, sliding his bowl of batter and ingredients further down the counter so that Louis can stand next to him.

His face is usually a bright ball of excitement when Louis is around, but today he’s even more animated. Louis grins at how wide he’s smiling as he softly places his bag on the floor. “You do realize it’s Monday, right? I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to be this chipper this early in the week.”

Liam laughs, his eyes still just as bright. “Aren’t you excited too, Louis? I’ve been going over the design in my head for _weeks_ now. I can’t wait to actually bake it!”

“Sorry? What design?” Louis stares at him with confusion trying to figure out what the hell he’s going on about.

Liam’s smile dims a bit when he realizes Louis has no idea what he’s talking about. “You know, the design… for your aunt’s cake? Her wedding’s on Wednesday...” Liam starts panicking when Louis doesn’t look as thrilled as him. “ _Shit._ It’s this week, isn’t it?”

Louis waves his arms around in a vaguely forgetful manner when Liam’s forehead sprouts a couple of stress veins, “Oh yes, Li, of course! I had completely forgotten with so much happening this week.” His acting skills bring Liam’s smile back from the shadows.

“Oh,” he breathes. “Well, don’t worry about a thing! I’m going to make sure her cake is beautiful. I’ll even deliver it myself to make sure it’s still exquisite when it arrives at the wedding.”

Louis’ grin tightens. “Oh please, baking the cake is enough, Liam. You don’t have to deliver it. I’ll take it with me and drop it off so you won’t have to be bothered.” Liam won’t hear of it.

“No way, Louis. This cake is important to you and your family, and I want to be sure your aunt’s day is amazing. I’m happy to do it. You’re only my favorite author, after all.” Liam claps a hand over Louis’ shoulder, and it makes guilt churn heavy and solid in his stomach like a weight. He doesn’t know how, but he’ll have to figure out a way to sneak the cake out of this bakery without Liam realizing it’s for a fake wedding.

“Thanks Liam, really. You’re too kind,” he manages to say without a grimace.

“Don’t mention it,” he smiles, getting back to work on the batter he’s currently mixing.

Louis hadn’t expected to get much work done this morning. In all honesty he thought Harry would keep him preoccupied enough that he wouldn’t have to think about his book at all, so he washes his hands out of habit and then comes to stand beside Liam. He grabs the flour from beside him and begins lightly dusting the square baking pans laid out in front of them. When he finishes covering them, he looks up to find Liam grinning.

“I see you’ve learned a lot from helping Harry so much. And all this time I thought you two were at each other’s throats whenever I’m not with you.”

“Oh we are, but somewhere between me wanting to strangle him and him wanting to drown me in the sink, I’ve actually picked up a few things.”

Liam breathes a soft laugh at that. “Yeah, Harry’s great with stuff like this. He had to help me a lot when we first took over this place.”

Louis rolls his eyes but it’s out of fondness. “Yeah, I guess he’s not _completely_ horrible. And he’s pretty good at baking…” Liam glances at him with knowing eyes causing Louis to break into a grin. “Okay, fine. He’s amazing at baking. I might have been a bit judgmental towards him in the beginning, but turns out, he’s actually alright.”

That little admission is the most he has ever admitted about Harry out loud, and to Louis’ surprise, the world didn’t stop spinning, Liam didn’t laugh or tease him, and everything is just fine.

“Harry really didn’t hate you before, you know.” Liam pours the batter evenly among the four baking pans. “That night at your signing. He was just worried about me and the easiest person to blame was you. He didn’t mean any of it.”

Louis isn’t so sure about that. Sure Harry may not hate Louis anymore, but he definitely doesn’t agree with any of the things he wrote in his first book. “We get along much better these days. We haven’t caused any carnage in weeks,” he jokes.

Louis laughs at his own attempt, but Liam doesn’t really laugh with him, not this time. He goes quiet, thoughtful, and clears his throat, looking more serious than Louis has seen him all morning. He keeps taking breaths like he wants to say something, but never actually gets around to it. He looks miserable all of a sudden.

“What’s up, Li?”

“Nothing, there’s just something I wanted to talk to you about…”

Louis heart drops into his stomach wondering how obvious he and Harry have been lately. “What is it?” he asks, scared to find out. Liam takes a deep breath, looking just as terrified as Louis, which makes very little sense, because if Liam has caught onto him and Harry then he should be the one least petrified in this situation.

“I already know what you’re going to say before I even tell you. You’re going to tell me that I’m stupid, however I would still like your advice on the matter because I’m not really sure what to do. Out of anybody I think you’re probably the best person to help me. You understand.”

Louis physically relaxes when he’s sure Liam isn’t about to call him out on his secret love affair. “Sure, Liam. I’ll do my best to help. Whatever you need,” he assures him.

He nods, taking another deep breath. He pauses for several moments before quiet words begin to fall from his mouth. “I know it’s completely idiotic of me, but the girl I was dancing with at the wedding a few nights ago…I _think_ \- well,” he corrects himself, “I _know_ that I have feelings for her. She’s invited me out this Friday and I actually want to tell her yes.” He looks completely guilty, not even meeting Louis’ eyes as he speaks. “I haven’t thought about anyone like this since my ex-girlfriend, but that night with Sophia was just so lovely that I can’t stop thinking about her. I know it’s like I’m just begging to be heartbroken all over again, but something just feels _different_ with her.” He peeks up at Louis with wide, fearful eyes. “Is that crazy?”

Louis wraps his arms around Liam’s shoulders to pull him tight against his chest in a long hug. When Louis lets him go he looks more at ease, but the guilt is still there in his eyes. He knows that it was his book that put the guilt there. Louis wishes it was never there to begin with.

“Liam,” he says placing both hands firmly on his shoulders to make sure he’s heard. “You are not crazy and you’re not asking to get your heart broken again just because you like someone new… Sophia seemed amazing. I think it’s really great that you like her.”

Liam gawks at him. “You- You do? But…you’ve always said relationships don’t work. I was totally prepared to move on with my life without a significant other like you and now here I am obsessing about a girl who is probably going to be the second worst thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re saying that’s normal?”

Louis grins, realizing all of a sudden that he has more in common with Liam than he ever thought possible. He can’t very well tell Liam to forget about Sophia when Louis can’t stop thinking about his best friend for more than five minutes at a time. “Liam, when I wrote those things I was furious, hurt, and also really, gloriously drunk.” Liam laughs, just Like Louis hoped he would. “I wrote a lot of things before, but none of them matter if you think Sophia can make you happy, because right now, Li, I don’t think that you are.”

“I don’t think I am either,” he admits. “I want to be able to be happy by myself. I want to be strong like you, but I just don’t think I have it in me.”

The guilt storm regenerates inside Louis’ stomach as he listens to Liam’s incredibly distorted image of himself, mistaking his bitterness and fear for strength and bravery. He doesn’t feel strong at all when he’s with Harry. He can’t even remember why he’s not supposed to like him when they're together.  

“No one should be like me,” Louis tells him. “Especially someone as caring and amazing as you, Li. You deserve a chance to be happy. You shouldn’t listen to idiots like me.”

Liam smiles, “You’re not an idiot. I think you’re brilliant.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m your favorite author,” Louis grins. He turns to preheat the oven, and when he turns around, Liam is the one tugging him into a tight hug.

“I’m saying it because it’s true, because you’re my favorite author as well as my friend.”

It makes his stomach settle again, hearing Liam’s words and knowing he means every one of them. He can only hope that everyone else will be as forgiving as Liam when they read how a once jaded Louis Tomlinson has become the world’s biggest fraud by accidentally falling in love.

*

His stomach flutters when Harry pokes his head into the office later that afternoon, spying on him while he’s working at his laptop.

“I can see you,” Louis mumbles, editing the pages he added last night. “I wouldn’t exactly describe you as a stealthy person.”

Harry smirks walking into the room and flopping down into the seat in front of the desk.  He slumps back, watching Louis with amused eyes, his pink lips stretched into a lazy smile. “How would you describe me then?”

A few words come to mind; beautiful, talented, and caring to name a few. Louis takes one look at the way he’s sitting, leaned back, the angle of his white t-shirt dipping down to the center of his chest and rolls his eyes. “Annoying. And also half-dressed.”

He snorts a laugh at that. After a while a small thoughtful grin settles on his lips that causes Louis’ heart to beat just a bit faster when he glances up.

“I talked to Liam,” Harry begins, more serious than before. “He said he asked to speak with you about Sophia.”

Louis takes a deep breath, already bracing himself. “He did.” He and Harry haven’t fought in a while, but he’s sure that’s about to change since Liam’ best interests are the topic of this conversation. “Is there something wrong?” he asks carefully.

“He told me what you said. That you told him that he should go for it…” Harry holds his gaze, “And I just wanted to say thank you.”

The pounding in Louis’ chest subsides when he’s met with Harry’s soft eyes rather than the huge confrontation he was expecting. “Oh,” he blinks up at him. “I uh…sure, Harry. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Harry stands from where he’s seated and Louis’ heart thuds a new rhythm against his ribcage. Harry leans over the desk to gently angle Louis’ mouth to his, leaving a slow and appreciative kiss on his lips that still tingles his skin long after he sits back down.

“You have no idea how much Liam values your opinion, Lou. He wouldn’t have even considered dating again if you hadn’t given him your blessing, and now he has a chance to start over.”

Louis coughs into his hand, feeling his face heating up from so much of Harry’s gratitude, from being kissed that way with the office door wide open for anyone to walk by and see him so flustered. “I just told him to do what would make him happy. He really likes this girl so I think he should go for it. It’s the same advice I’d give to anybody.”

“Yeah,” Harry smiles to himself, gently scraping his thumb along the arm of the chair. “I wonder if you’d give yourself the same advice too…”

Louis frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he takes a deep breath, giving himself a boost of confidence before he begins. “Liam likes someone new and you told him to pursue her. To see what happens…” Harry’s face turns a deeper and richer shade of pink the longer it takes for him to spit out what’s on his mind. Louis can practically hear the uncertainty in his voice. “I can only assume that you are also interested in someone new,” he whispers. “You could always take your own advice and try it out. You could see how it goes...”

Silence hangs in the air as Louis mentally deciphers Harry’s roundabout way of saying… well Louis isn’t sure exactly what Harry is saying or proposing that he do. Louis has no words, briefly meeting Harry’s eyes before diverting them back to the screen of his laptop like he never looked up at all.

He still hasn’t said anything, and once a couple of minutes have passed Harry’s knees begin impatiently bouncing as he waits. He only lasts a few seconds more before he pushes his hair back away from his face, standing to leave when the silence stretches out longer than he can take. “Thanks for talking to Li…just forget what I said,” he mumbles, moving as fast as he can to get out of the office. Louis’ brain wakes the fuck up by the time he reaches the door.

Louis has already done half of the things he swore he’d never do again when it comes to Harry. He’s tried staying away from him and even went as far as denying his feelings altogether which obviously wasn’t very effective. At this point, giving in to Harry seems like the more logical thing to do rather than lying again, he just doesn’t know how to do that. He doesn’t know how to let him in.

He stands to call out to him just before he’s gone. “Harry, wait. I’m- I’m sorry.” Harry stops with the heels of his boots just outside the edge of the threshold. He turns to face him again taking a small step back inside the office, his tight expression making Louis look just as anxious as he feels.

Stopping Harry from leaving the room was Louis’ top priority a few seconds ago. Now that he’s staying, Louis isn’t sure what his next move is supposed to be.

“You don’t have to apologize. I get it,” Harry assures him.

Louis shakes his head, in an failed attempt at explaining himself. “You don’t get it. I’m not saying _no_ , I just-” Louis shrugs, accidentally letting Harry see just how difficult this is for him. “I just- I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Harry cracks a genuine grin at the confusion on his face, bringing new light to the room and restoring Louis’ urge to punch him. “No one ever knows what they’re doing, Lou. Sorry, but you’re not that special because that’s how everyone feels.”  Louis narrows his eyes at him.

“If this is supposed to be you being comforting then I’m not exactly impressed.”

Harry walks further into the room until only the desk is separating them. “This is me telling you the absolute truth.” Harry’s a lot more distracting up close than when he was near the door, and now Louis can’t look anywhere else except his eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing either, but I do know that I think about you all the time. I know you think that kind of emotion is fake, but I know what it’s like to fall for someone…I feel that with you, and I can promise you that it’s real.”

He’s heard speeches like this before from men starting all the way back from his very first boyfriend to the pair of green eyes silently beseeching him now as apprehension bubbles up in Louis’ stomach. It feels like another one of Harry’s traps when he reaches for Louis’ hand. He snatches it away of course, contemplating if this is truly something he would really consider doing again, because letting Harry kiss him a few times is one thing, but allowing him to take center stage? The mere thought is terrifying. “People change their minds all the time. You won’t feel this way later. No one ever does.”

Harry snorts a laugh at that. “Trust me Louis, I won’t be changing my mind.”

“You don’t know that,” he argues.

Harry frowns, more adamant this time as the playful smile slides off his face. “Yes, I do. I know you think you know everything, but you don’t know how I feel.”

Louis scoffs at him. “I wrote a whole chapter in my first book about the beginning stages of infatuation and how it feels just like _this_ ,” he gestures between the two of them. “My own fiancé changed his mind, so what makes you think you’re immune?”

His eyes display the smallest flash of hurt, but it’s quickly erased by determination. “I’m not Isaac.” He sounds almost offended that Louis would suggest it, that he would even mention them in the same sentence. “If you can’t trust me then we can’t do this, Lou. You have to realize that I’m not him. I would never intentionally hurt you.” Louis doesn’t move when Harry reaches for him this time, slowly, like one wrong move will send him running.

He lets their fingers slot together and rest on top of the desk. Louis wiggles his fingers around in his grip trying to re-associate them with the foreign sensation.

“I know you’re not Isaac,” Louis tells him eventually, because it’s true. The man standing in front of him is nothing like the person who broke his heart, but that doesn’t mean he trusts him. “It’s just… I’m breaking all of my rules for you... I said I would never need anyone else or let myself feel things that are only going to cause me pain later on. I’m doing all of that and I haven’t even known you that long.”

Harry nods, seeming to understand Louis’ hesitance about him.

“Well… I won’t be slipping an engagement ring on your finger in seven months, that’s for sure,” he grins. Surprisingly Louis smiles back. “We don’t have to move that fast. We don’t even have to call it a relationship right now, but I _would_ like to at least see you outside of the bakery, or be able to kiss you from time to time whenever I feel like it…” He looks down at their fingers still linked together and smiles. “Even this is enough for me.”

Louis’ skeptical, but Harry’s convincing is the thing, with his mossy colored eyes and his shirt collar dusted with baking flour. Even with Louis knowing this is by far the dumbest thing he’s ever done, he can’t bring himself to say no. “Alright, fine. I can maybe take my own advice and try it out…”

“ _Oh my God_ ,” Harry lets out the breath he was holding, his stupidly beautiful face lighting up at Louis’ surrender. “That was the hardest sales pitch I’ve ever had to deliver!” He laughs, leaning in to peck Louis on the cheek, “I was eventually going to run out of things to say if you kept rejecting me.”

“Funny how you never run out of things to say when I actually _want_ you to stop talking.” Louis gently wedges his hand out of Harry’s, his fingers needing a breather from so much action all at once.

Harry makes an offended sound at the back of his throat. “So what, are you hinting that I talk too much?”

Louis raises an eyebrow, sitting back down to face his laptop. “I didn’t say it for nothing,” he mumbles loud enough for Harry to hear.

“If I had a cupcake I’d rub it in your face. I know how much you _loved_ that. It shut you right up last time,” Harry reminisces.

Louis stares at him letting another insult roll off his tongue. “Why waste a perfectly good cupcake when your hair has enough frosting and flour in it to cover ten people’s faces?”

Harry glares at him until he bursts out laughing, reaching up to feel his messy locks. He smiles at Louis with warm, emerald eyes.

“We’re fighting already.”

“I give this whole ‘ _trying it out’_ thing two days tops before I end up murdering you,” Louis mutters. “We won’t even have to tell Liam because you’ll be dead.”

“Who says I wouldn’t murder you first?” Louis doesn’t miss the fond smile Harry gives him before turning to walk away like a smug ass. “See you later, Lou.”

He rolls his eyes, cringing at the nickname as he resumes typing. “I’ve told you not to call me-” he stops mid-shout, realizing that the last twenty minutes have pretty much given Harry the right to call him anything he wants. In a moment it hits Louis that if they don’t murder each other by the end of the week, he might even have to endure being called someone’s _boyfriend_ again. A chill runs down his spine just thinking about it, but it’s smothered when Harry pokes his head back in the door.

“I could always start using mushy terms of endearment like honey or baby.”

The smirk on his face causes Louis to shush him, violently shaking his head. “No! Don’t. Lou is- is fine.”

“Oh, well, only if you’re sure.” Harry bites down on his grin before walking away again and Louis is torn between wanting to gag at potentially being called something like sweetie or cackling, picturing Harry’s face after trying to say it with a straight face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said this chapter would be the last, but I obviously got WAY ahead of myself. I have no idea why I thought I could finish this in one chapter! This story is challenging for me, so I think I was getting frustrated, but luckily it'll take a few more chapters to finish and I can't wait to write them :)
> 
> I'm already working on the next one, so as always, thanks for reading and sorry for any confusion!


	14. Chapter 14

The feeling of things being relatively normal should probably make Louis feel more at ease but instead he’s busy feeling paranoid that somehow he’s missing something and things should be going haywire. Not much has actually changed since his and Harry’s conversation which alarms Louis more than anything because he’s pretty sure the two of them have now entered into some sort of loosely binding half-relationship, and that alone should send Louis’ blood pressure spiking, yet somehow when he thinks about it, he’s alright.

He wanders into the kitchen for a break at some point the next day, finding the man himself softly singing while filling piping bags with globs of green and white frosting. Louis walks over, tapping him on the shoulder as he hops up on the counter like he does every other day, and Harry offers him his customary smile as a greeting. It’s all surprisingly ordinary. The only change to their routine is when Harry takes out his earbuds to stand between Louis’ legs where they’re dangling off the edge of the counter.

He leans in gradually, throwing a glance to the kitchen door to make sure they’re still alone before gently bringing their lips together. It isn’t that scary, considering Louis has pictured Harry in this very position since the first day he perched himself up here, but the pressure of his warm palms pressing into his thighs is a bit overwhelming. He accidentally makes a sound at the way Harry sucks at his bottom lip and grips into his jeans. Louis pulls away with his face tinted pink.

“So,” Harry grins, “Did you wander in here to help me or just watch?”

Louis recovers, glancing down at the icing tools and actually wanting to be of assistance. Usually Harry forces him to help whether he wants to or not, but today he doesn’t mind getting his hands a little dirty. “I’ll help out.”

His eyes are playful when Harry pokes him in the side. “In that case, to the sink,” he orders, titling his head towards it. He steps back so Louis can hop down. He can feel Harry watching him the entire time he’s washing his hands.

When Louis comes back Harry demonstrates drawing and layering leaves and flower petals onto the bottom tier of the cake before them. He places a bag of gooey frosting in the palm of Louis’ hand and watches him draw a few practice petals on the countertop. Louis smiles to himself when they don’t look horrible.

Harry lightly elbows him where their arms are brushing. “If your second book isn’t as successful as the first at least now you can have a job here,” he teases. “The days are long and the wedding rush can get kind of crazy, but it’s a delicious career field.”

He cracks a smile, creating more flowers on the counter for Harry to approve. “Like my book would ever flop.” Louis elbows him in the side for even joking about it. Harry approves his last practice flower. Louis stretches to draw one on the second tier of the cake, practically holding his breath so he doesn’t fuck it up. He steps back to admire his work once he’s done.

“I think I’m pretty set with my job, although I wouldn’t mind volunteering in the shop sometimes just because.”

Harry glances at him from where he’s drawing, trying to hide the grin slowly stretching across his face. “You’d want to come back and help even after you’re done with your book?”

“If you and Li will have me, of course. Working from home can get a bit boring. I’d love to come hang out when the shop isn’t too busy. You know, to keep my decorating skills up.”

Harry looks delighted at the prospect of Louis wanting to hang around the shop without any hidden agendas. “I guess we can let you annoy us on slow days,” he sighs almost like it would be a bother, but his lopsided grin tells Louis otherwise.

“That sounds perfect. Very charitable of you,”  Louis grins back.

*

He’s on his way to his car as he’s replaying the day in his head, stopping to analyze each moment he spent with Harry.

Nothing much has changed between them other than the occasional display of affection, but Harry had worked up to kissing him days ago when they were still just friends. Louis said he’d give them a try and let Harry in, but he still isn’t really sure what he agreed to since things pretty much feel the same.

Louis reaches out to open the door when he hears someone calling his name from across the street. He looks over his shoulder to find Harry jogging over to him, his long legs getting him to the car a lot faster than Louis’ did.

“I looked up and you had gone.”

“Yeah.” Louis blinks up at his statement. “I saw you and Liam finishing up in the kitchen. I told you both goodbye, remember?”

There’s a small, shy grin on Harry’s lips. “Well yeah, but I figured you’d stick around a bit longer. I uh...I kind of wanted to ask if you had dinner plans. It’s fine if you do.”

The sound of a passing car almost drowns out Harry’s words but he’s standing so close that Louis still catches them, realizing that dinner is definitely new and different from anything they’ve ever done.

“I don’t have any plans,” Louis confirms, “I also don’t have anything in my flat other than tea and coffee, so I’m glad you stopped me.”

“Where’s all of your food?” He asks, amused.

“I can’t shop, cook, _and_ finish writing a book all at once. I’m only a mere mortal, and plus, I despise cooking.” That last part earns him a very dramatic eye roll.

“Oh God. Don’t tell me you’re one of _those_. When’s the last time you had something that wasn’t in a bag or delivered to your door?”

Louis hums, leaning against his car as he tries to recall. “Hmmm….I don’t know. About a month?”

“A _month_?” he exclaims with his face twisting into an incredulous scowl. “Your poor stomach.” Louis starts rattling off all of his favorite, deliciously overpriced take away meals and before he knows it Harry is telling Louis to follow him home, rattling off driving directions so he can have some ‘ _real food’_ for a change.

Harry’s is only a ten minute drive from the shop in the same direction that Louis lives. He parks behind Harry on the side of the street and follows him to the entrance of a large brick building. They pass a few doors until they get to his and Harry welcomes him inside.

It’s neat and orderly with all white walls except the one in the kitchen that is covered in brick. There’s more furniture here than in Louis’ flat, and on nearly every surface is a beautiful bouquet of flowers resting in a smooth pastel ceramic vase. It’s the complete opposite of what he expected flour covered Harry’s home to look like, and yet somehow it seems to fit him perfectly.

“So I’m guessing you really like flowers,” Louis deduces, toeing off his shoes after he sees Harry do it. He follows him into his kitchen, taking a seat on the barstool near the counter rather than plopping himself on top of it like he would at the shop.

“They’re good inspiration. It’s a lot easier to create flowers when you have a good reference point. I try to imitate the way real flowers are shaped so they look real on our cakes.”

“That makes sense, I guess. It would explain why my flowers are always so awkward and lumpy. I don’t think I’ve ever had flowers in my flat.”

“We can always fix that,” Harry smiles, opening his freezer. He digs until he finds what he’s looking for, dropping a couple of ribeye steaks into the sink. Louis’ eyes widen as Harry opens the refrigerator and takes out a bunch of fresh vegetables to accompany them.

“You’re making steak?”

“Is that okay? I figure any steak that comes in a bag isn’t worth it, so I want to cook something good. I’ve got a date to impress, after all.” The word makes his stomach drop, but it’s quickly lifted again when Harry glances over his shoulder to grin at him.

Louis can smell fresh green peppers and onions sizzling in the skillet beside the steaks nearly an hour later once their conversation about what qualifies as good music has reached a boiling point. Harry starts pulling out silverware, getting distracted mid-way through and directs his attention back to the food.

“Need some help?” Louis asks, hopping down from the stool to rifle through Harry’s cabinets.

“Is this going to be like when you ‘ _help’_ at the shop,” he smirks.

Louis finds two plates in the cabinet near the stove. He ‘ _accidentally_ ’ elbows Harry in the side of the head when he takes them down, smirking back at him.

“Whoops.” Harry shoots him a glare, rubbing the area with the heel of his hand. Louis scoffs. It’s not like he elbowed him hard. It was more of a tap really. “Be more dramatic,” he mumbles.

“Be more passive aggressive, _darling_.”

He blanches on instinct, making a face to show his displeasure when the name hits his ear. “Please, never call me that. It’s so creepy,” he shivers.

“Really? I think it’s nice.”

“You wouldn’t think so if it were you being called something cutesy,” he argues.

Harry grins to himself, placing a large ribeye and spoonful of veggies onto each plate that Louis hands him. “My grandfather used to call my grandmother a little bit of everything when he was alive. Any pet name he used would make her entire face light up even though they had been married for over thirty years. I always thought it was sweet.”

Usually Louis would launch a counter argument disagreeing with whatever Harry said, but the nostalgic look on his face is too priceless to ruin. Louis doesn’t say anything snarky, choosing instead to agree with him for once. “It sounds like they were really happy together. They were lucky.”

“Yeah,” he grins. “They were.”

*

The food is amazing when they get to sit down and the conversation is even better. Louis can’t remember the last time he sat down to dinner with someone and simply enjoyed being in their presence. Isaac used to be his dinner partner until he started coming home late and making up excuses to not come home at all. Hearing Harry’s warm laughter on the opposite side of the table is a comfort as they eat and smile in each other’s company.

Louis helps him with the cleanup and even offers to do it all himself but Harry insists that he help at least a little.

He walks him to the door at the end of their night, lightly linking their fingers for the journey to his front door.

“Thank you for forcing me eat ‘ _real food’_ ,” he smiles. “It was very kind of you to offer.”

“Of course, Lou. I’m sure your stomach is confused as to why it isn’t coated in grease, so I’m glad I could help.”

They both breathe a nervous sort of laugh, waiting for the other to say something else or at least look each other in the eye. Harry has initiated every kiss they’ve shared so far, so Louis expects him to lean down at any moment to tilt his chin up to his height just like all the other times, but a few seconds pass and oddly enough, nothing is happening.

They stand there for a bit longer, and eventually Louis gets impatient waiting to feel Harry’s lips again. With a deep breath, he lifts up on the balls of his feet to place a kiss at the corner of his mouth, getting mostly cheek and only half of his lips. It’s hardly anything, barely even a brush of their mouths when Louis drops back down on his heels, feeling over his own lips, wishing he had done that with a little more grace.

Harry wears a soft smile, his eyebrows shooting up in delighted surprise when Louis grabs onto his arms to steady himself and lifts up again, determined. He gently presses his lips against Harry’s this time, starting slow at first and then growing comfortable enough to grip one hand into the dip of Harry’s waist, letting his fingers wander and wrap around his back.

He doesn’t mean to, but he loses his balance after a few seconds. The little jolt he makes trying to catch himself pushes Harry against the door, but the grin he feels Harry wearing lets him know that he didn’t mind. His nerves dissipate after that and he allows his hands the chance to feel all the contours of Harry’s body. He’s just about to pull away, when Harry’s tongue gently slides into his mouth, coaxing him along as he walks them towards the couch.

Harry lays down first, guiding Louis to crawl on top of him and slot their legs together so he can fit comfortably on Harry’s long body. It’s easy and electrifying when Harry slides his warm hands beneath his shirt, feeling along his spine then moving to feel around to Louis’ stomach and chest.

Louis braces himself with one elbow, letting his free hand angle and guide Harry’s mouth in the direction he wants. It feels amazing just like this, his mind blank of everything except familiarizing himself with the boy beneath him. He doesn’t realize just how relaxed he feels until Harry’s hand dips a little lower than anticipated, his fingers coming into direct contact with Louis’ semi. Louis jerks, his hips pushing forward into Harry’s, causing them to break apart with sharp intakes of breath.

Louis stops, glancing down to see Harry’s jeans a little tighter in front as well but his hands have stopped roaming over his body.

He grins up at Louis with apologetic eyes, placing soft kisses below his jaw.

“That was an accident. It’s up to you, but I’m fine with just a kiss goodnight if you are.”

Working up to kissing Harry was already a month long event. Louis doesn’t think he can go from a kiss to more than that all in one night. “That’s fine for me too,” he agrees, sliding back so that he’s no longer on top of him.

Harry sits up with a dopey, happy expression on his face, and it’s so cute on him that Louis has to lean over to kiss him once more just because he can. When Louis pulls away Harry follows to pull him right back in. They stay there, taking turns kissing one another until Louis knows it’s getting late. He stands up, leaving Harry pouting on the couch.

Harry stands up to follow him, but Louis pokes him in the chest, pushing him back down. “Oh no. If you walk me to the door, we’ll just end up right back on the couch.”

“That’s the whole point,” he smiles. He’s cute, but Louis makes himself stick to the plan no matter how much power Harry’s dimples have over him.

“I can let myself out. You just…stay. Don’t move,” he says, pulling his keys from his back pocket. Harry lies back on the couch to watch him walk away.

“Was it easier than you thought it would be?”

Louis laughs. “What? Leaving you here with a visible hard-on?”

Harry fights a smile, biting down into his bottom lip. “No. I mean kissing me. You hadn’t done it before tonight...”

Louis considers lying and saying kissing Harry was nothing. He decides to go with the truth instead. “It was intimidating, kissing someone like that again,” Louis admits, “But it was worth it…trying again.” Louis sighs. He can hardly believe the things he’s admitting out loud. “You’re worth it, I suppose.” He tacks on the last part when Harry’s knowing eyes seem to stare right into him.

He forgoes Louis’ previous order to stay on the couch, getting up to lightly cradle his face in his hands, Harry’s thumbs lightly tracing his jawline. It’s not overwhelming, the kiss Harry that leaves on his lips, but the swooping sensation in his stomach is definitely alarming. The feeling causing him to  immediately think of his first book and the warning he gave himself and everyone else in the world about this very emotion taking him over, but each gentle caress of Harry’s lips begs him to ignore it.

Harry kisses him through all the red flags, and second thoughts until he’s breathless and staggering backward to let himself out the door where he can breathe.

*

Back in his kitchen in front of his laptop, Louis scans over the last couple of chapters he sent to Niall with his lips still tingling. The draft is finished for the most part, but he still needs one more thing, some sort of ending, a resolution to tie everything in, because until recently he had no clue as to how to do it.

He now knows what to write, however the fact that his book is still nameless distracts him from moving forward. He had stared at the top of his document for months, reading and re-reading its temporary name of _Book Two_ , wondering if he’d ever find inspiration to begin writing it. It doesn’t even feel like he’s typing until he finishes, staring at the official title of his rough draft with his stomach alive and trembling as he hits save.

 _Revising the Fairytale: Lessons and Universal Truths of Falling in Love_ , blazes at him from his computer screen. With that done, he aligns his cursor below the last chapter he wrote, Harry’s face at the forefront of his mind as he begins to type.


	15. Chapter 15

Louis is busy mentally editing and revising the writing he did the night before when he walks through the shop in a near haze. He doesn’t even notice Harry standing behind the display case until his voice stops him from heading to the kitchen.

“Liam says you’re not allowed to go in there. He won’t even let me in there and I own half of the building.” Louis turns to find Harry leaned over the counter, lazily flipping through a catalogue.

He blinks at him, confused. “Is there a specific reason why we can't go in the kitchen?”

Harry smirks. “Oh Lou, don’t you remember? It’s your aunt Beverly’s special day!” Louis groans, letting his head fall back to reveal his throat. He trudges his way over to Harry, letting out a long sigh. “He’s been at it _all_ morning, even got here early to make sure your aunt Lindsay’s-”

“I thought you said her name was Beverly.”

“Right. He got here early to make sure your aunt Patricia’s cake turns out absolutely _perfect_ for you.” Harry meets his eyes with a blinding, annoying as fuck smile that causes him to groan into the palms of his hands.

“I hate you.”

“You don’t,” he grins.

“Okay, I don’t,” Louis confirms, “But I’m kind of having a moral crisis. Do you have to look quite so smug and annoying?”

A crease forms between Harry’s eyebrows as he attempts to look more solemn. He fails miserably and ends up laughing instead. “Lou, not to be insensitive, but what did you think would be the outcome of placing an order for a wedding cake?”

He has no idea. At the time Louis just needed an excuse to talk to Harry. He didn’t really think about the end result.

“I don’t know…I thought maybe he’d be so busy dealing with real customers that he’d forget about mine and I’d just never mention it.”

“ _Liam Payne_ forgetting a cake order? He has been out with Sophia every night since you first talked him into it and even _that_ hasn’t distracted him. He’s like an elephant. He never forgets anything.”

Louis whines, letting his face rest against the case in front of him. “What am I going to do? I can’t eat a whole fucking wedding cake by myself!” he laments into the glass. Out of nowhere, he feels the light brush of Harry’s lips on the back of head. Louis catches sight of his own smile in his reflection.

“I have no idea what you thought lying would earn you.” When Louis peeks up Harry is watching him with a small amused smile. “ _But,_ I am willing to help you get out of it because one, you’re a right mess, and two, you’re cute when you think you’re fucked.”

Louis doesn’t even care that Harry just called him cute, practically climbing on top of the display case to hug him. “Oh my God, Thank you! What do you have in mind?”

“Espionage, of course.” He lifts one eyebrow like he’s a spy in an action film, and Louis briefly wonders how he resisted Harry for as long as he did.

*

Harry’s only instructions were for Louis to stay in the office while he ‘ _schemed_ ’, even though Harry refused to tell Louis exactly what his scheming consisted of. He’s pretty sure Harry is just winging it, but he doesn’t complain since Harry is willingly volunteering his services.

He works in the office, editing and re-editing for what seems like hours until finally Liam pokes his head in the door with his eyes alight as he beckons Louis into the kitchen.

When they walk in, Louis has trouble identifying the simple white cake he ordered nearly a month ago. He searches all the surfaces of the kitchen, but the only cake he sees is a five tier beauty standing tall in crimson and gold on the main counter.

“ _So?_ ” Liam clasps his hands rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, “What do you think?” he asks, giving his hand a flourish as he stands beside his creation.

“This isn’t the cake I ordered, is it? My cake- I mean my _aunt’s_ cake didn’t look like this.”

“I know!” Liam beams. “I made it better! I upgraded it!”

Louis’ mouth drops open, walking the perimeter of the kitchen to eye it from different angles. It’s huge, probably about half of Louis’ height if it were on the ground, its tiers hexagonal in shape and alternately  draped in white and deep red fondant, accented by strips of golden ribbon wrapped around each base. Louis didn’t even know they had hexagonal cake pans in the shop, let alone the tools necessary to create roses so life-like that Louis has to stop himself from reaching out to feel one of the petals.

Liam starts up again when Louis still looks awestruck. “I know it’s a lot more detailed, large, and a bit grander than the one you wanted, but I don’t want you to worry about any of that because it’s absolutely free of charge.”

Louis whips his head around to gawk at him. “Li. I-I can’t let you do that. You spent all morning on this cake. There’s no way I could-”

Liam shakes his head, dismissing Louis’ modesty. “You have helped me in so many ways that I don’t know how to even begin to thank you. Initially I was just excited to be making a cake for actual Louis Tomlinson, but it means so much more to me now because I made it for a friend. This is honestly the least I could do.”

Louis has a feeling that this is a battle he won’t be winning, so after he has recovered from his heart bleeding all over the floor he accepts defeat and wraps Liam in a tight hug. “You really didn’t have to do all of this. The simpler cake would’ve been fine, but thank you for doing such an amazing job. It’s gorgeous, really.”

Liam’s smile is back, his eyes squinting as he claps his hands together. “Now the trick is going to be getting the cake to your aunt’s wedding in one piece! Since the ceremony isn’t until much later, I‘ll deliver it right before we close. What time are you heading over? I could always follow you to the venue.”

Louis works to make sure his face stays neutral during his lie. “Oh, uh, I’m not going straight to the wedding. I’m going to go home first so you won’t be able to follow me.”

“Ah, right. Well I can always just Google the address. I’m sure we’ve delivered cakes to nearly every ceremony venue in the city, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Louis gives him a tight grin. “Oh yeah, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding it.”

*

It’s nearly half past three when Louis starts to worry that maybe Harry has forgotten his promise to help him. The shop has gotten increasingly more busy the closer it gets to closing hours, but somehow Liam still finds time to poke his head into the office every few minutes or so to assure Louis that the cake will be delivered on time.

Louis prolongs it as long as he can, but soon the clock strikes four and he has no choice but to pack up his things and pretend to be on his way to watch his aunt get married. There are swarms of people in the front of the shop clamoring for consultations, so Louis decides to go through the back door of the kitchen to avoid the masses, only able to catch a glimpse of the back of Harry’s head before he leaves.

He drives home seeing as how he has nowhere else to be at the moment, and even though he knows Liam will most likely forgive him he still feels like a dick for lying in the first place. When he’s home he spends nearly an hour rehearsing the apology speech he has planned in his head, praying that Liam won’t hate him when he shows up at the bakery tomorrow.

The thought of Liam turning his back on him makes Louis cringe enough to start practicing his speech all over again, however his thoughts get interrupted when someone knocks, three dull thumps sounding against his door.

Louis stands just a few inches away, listening for any signs of a vengeful Liam Payne on the other side of the door. He takes a step closer and a deep muffled voice comes filtering through.

“I can hear you in there. Hurry up. This is heavy.” Louis breathes a sigh of relief yanking the door open to reveal Harry, well most of him anyway. All Louis can really see is the bottom half of his body. The rest of him is hidden behind a large cake box that towers past his head.

Louis opens the door wide enough for Harry and the box to step through. Harry heads straight for the kitchen, keeping his head tilted so he can see where he’s going. Louis follows right behind him.

“How the hell did you manage to sneak that thing out of there? Liam was watching over it like a cave dragon.” Harry laughs at that, dropping the large box onto the only empty space on the table. “Wait a minute. How do you know where I live?” Louis asks, this question suddenly taking priority over his cake/dragon question.

Harry takes a seat at the table, his shoulders and elbows popping as he stretches out the tension in his arms. “I got it from the cake order,” Harry yawns, stretching his long legs so that he’s slinked back against the chair with a lazy grin. “I’m tired. Espionage is hard work.”

“How did you do it anyway? When I left there were more customers up front than I’ve seen at the shop in weeks. You two were so busy I didn’t even get a chance to stop and say bye.”

Harry bites down on a grin. “Well, people tend to get really excited by discounts, especially when they’re only available for a limited time, even more so when a half-price sign gets strategically placed outside the shop to entice people inside…”

“You didn’t,” Louis slaps a palm over his mouth. “What did Liam say?”

“Well you know how horrible I am at sketching designs… Liam didn’t have much time to say anything since most of the customers preferred his drawings over mine. He was so swamped that he had no choice but to let me handle deliveries.” Harry’s eyes are bright and mischievous even after he finishes explaining. “Oh yeah,” he starts again, “Liam said to tell the beautiful bride congratulations and good luck... since there’s no actual wedding or bride, I assume he means you,” he laughs.

Louis laughs with him, his stomach feeling lighter now that he knows Liam doesn’t hate him. “You pretended to be bad at drawing, stressed out your best friend, and lost money on like twenty wedding cakes just to help me?”

“Well I’ve always wanted to sabotage someone and cause a little mayhem, but mostly I just really wanted to help you out.”

Louis would have been fucked if Harry hadn’t helped him. He should be thanking him. “I can never thank you enough, Harry, really.”

Louis watches a playful glint sparkle in Harry’s eyes. “Unfortunately I only accept thanks in the form of kisses. No other currency is allowed for my services.” He makes Louis smile, sitting up a bit and licking over his bottom lip to further entice Louis to come over. Louis takes a seat on his lap pulling Harry in with his fingers locked into his curls. Harry hums into it, snaking his hands around Louis’ waist to pull him closer. Louis pulls away with a laugh when Harry grips into his side and one of his fingers tickles him between his ribs. “Sorry,” he drawls with his mouth still chasing Louis’ lips.

Louis laughs again when catches sight of the box on his table, this time without being accidentally tickled.  “Harry? What the _fuck_ am I going to do with all of this cake?”

Harry cackles, nuzzling into his neck and drops a kiss just below his ear. “I don’t know. I didn’t think that far into the plan. Are you hungry?”

“Not enough to eat five tiers of cake. I’ll never be that hungry,” Louis mumbles.

“Well, luckily I’m starving,” He pats Louis on the ass, prompting him to stand to grab silverware and plates while he starts removing the box to reveal the top tier. “We better get started.”

*

They eat two very generous slices each before Harry starts complaining that he’s in a sugar coma, but that’s only because he insisted on eating an entire fondant rose as well. Now he’s lying on Louis’ couch with half of his limbs scrubbing the ground where he was too lazy to readjust himself. A very miserable sounding groan makes Louis laugh from where he’s sitting, nestled in the adjacent arm chair.

“ _Lou,”_ he whines. “Come lay with me.”

“You can barely fit your own arse on the couch with the way you’re beached on it. I pretty sure mine’s not going to fit on there too.” Harry pulls his right leg and arm up from the floor and flattens himself against the back rest.

“Now?”

His question is muffled by the cushion his face is resting in, but Louis can still decipher it. He gets up, with a dramatic sigh and gingerly sits on the small slice of couch available to him. He spends a few seconds trying to situate himself before Harry’s long arms impatiently reach out to pull him down next to him, tucking Louis into his chest and throwing a leg over his hips to anchor him there.

Louis’ pulse picks up when Harry adjusts his legs and nuzzles into the side of his neck with his nose, his curls lightly brushing his skin as they move. “You didn’t have to tackle me into lying down.” Louis mutters, but doesn’t move. Harry is heavy and hot where he’s pinning Louis against his body, but it actually feels good being held this way. He doesn’t think Isaac ever cuddled him outside of their bedroom. It’s kind of nice.

“You were taking too long. I’m not very patient when I’m unwell.”

Louis laughs. “Oh? Are unwell and poorly the new words for glutton? You look fine to me.” Louis pokes at his stomach where Harry is holding it. He groans into Louis’ neck, whimpering when he’s torn between laughter and pain. Louis laughs initially, but feels bad about it after he sees Harry’s face crumple into a pout.

Harry doesn’t necessarily ask for an apology kiss, but just watching his overdramatic performance makes Louis want to give him one.  He’s only hesitant at first, slowly bringing their lips together. Any nerves he had get lost in the way Harry smiles against him, his fake stomach ache long forgotten.

*

It’s much later when Louis’ head slips from the edge of the couch cushion, his neck and arms jerking forward to catch himself even though he’s far from falling. He sits up to rub at the stiffness in his neck, trying to figure out how one moment he was lying on the couch talking to Harry, and the next he’s waking up with tension in his back and shoulders. He didn’t even realize he was that tired.

He drags himself up and into his kitchen to find Harry at the sink. Louis hops up on the counter, resting his head against the cabinet as Harry washes the residue and mold from the mass collection of mugs and spoons no longer littering his kitchen.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know? You should’ve woken me up.”

He grins up at Louis’ sleepy face. “You were only asleep for about twenty minutes. Don’t worry, I kept myself busy in here. Some of these mugs have so much mold they can probably move.”

Louis laughs, admiring the way he can actually see the surfaces of his kitchen. His gaze falls to the light wood finish of his table, how neat and orderly it looks, and how his laptop used to be closer to the center of the table with the cake, and now it’s pushed closer to the edge towards one of the chairs. Louis freezes when he notices it sitting at a completely different angle from how he left it earlier this afternoon when he got home.

A panicked looked gets aimed Harry’s way, his blood running cold. How could he have been so stupid as to leave it out?

Harry’s easy smile fades away.  “What?” he asks, catching the taut line of Louis’ mouth.

“The table…my- my laptop…” he tries to explain, but Louis doesn’t know how to ask his question without sounding like an insane person.

“I wiped everything down for you. There were sugar trails and coffee rings all over everything…. I don’t know how you get any work done over there,” he mutters. His eyes lose their brightness when Louis’ tight expression remains on his face. “Is there a problem?” he asks carefully.

“When you cleaned off my laptop did you, you know… see anything?” Louis has to clarify when a crease forms between Harry’s eyebrows. “I mean…did you open it or use it or…?” The atmosphere in the room takes a dip as Harry abandons the dishes in the sink to face him. “It’s- It’s fine if you did, Harry, I just want to the opportunity to explain myself, that’s all.”

“Explain yourself for what, being paranoid? I would never go through your things without your permission. I thought I’d help out and clean up a bit, but I would never snoop through your computer.”

Louis feels relief wash over him. He lets out the breath he was holding, letting his head rest against the cabinet again. He grins to himself, feeling like an idiot for assuming the worst, but when he opens his eyes the look on Harry’s face isn’t as relived or comforted.

“What did you think I did, Louis?”

“Nothing,” Louis rushes to say when Harry’s tone is offended. “I didn’t think you did anything I was just asking because it’s in a different spot.”

“So what? Did you think I went through your email or something while you were sleeping? Did you think I was _stealing_ your banking information?”

He sounds more and more insulted as he speaks, and honestly Louis can’t blame him after being accused. Louis just wants the happy version of him to come back. “No, Harry. No, I-”

“Then _what?_ ” he snaps, his cheeks a splotchy pink from trying to hold down his temper. Louis blinks at the sudden change in his tone, unsure of how they got back here, back to fighting with just one simple question. Harry shakes his head in disbelief. “I’ve already told you, if you can’t trust me then I don’t want to do this, Louis. I’ve been in relationships where all I did was apologize for other people’s trust issues and I can’t-”

Louis cuts him off before he gets too far, hoping the truth will set everything right again, but it doesn’t. “I thought you read my rough draft.”

Harry narrows his eyes at him. “Would it have been that big of an issue if I had?” _Yes,_ Louis thinks. He would probably be screaming at him right now if he had. “It’s going to be a _book_ at some point in the near future. It’s not like you can keep your writing a secret forever, but of course I didn’t read it. I didn’t even open the damn thing.”

“I believe you,” Louis tells him when Harry still looks insulted, but that only makes it worse as a cold laugh echoes through the room.

“ _You_ believe _me_? What’s in your precious book that you don’t want me to see, anyway?” It’s a rhetorical question, Louis knows that, but it still makes him flinch just thinking about the pages upon pages of confessions he spilled about his feelings; feelings that he has for Harry. Things he hadn’t planned on Harry knowing right now. Harry levels him with a suspicious look when Louis turns his face away from him, guilty. “What’s in the book, Louis?”

“Nothing. There’s nothing,” he lies.

“Then let me read it. Since it’s nothing, you shouldn’t mind me skimming a few chapters.”

A long silence stretches between them.  Louis doesn’t even look him in the eye as he denies his request. “I can’t, Harry.”

“What do you mean you _can’t_? Why not?” he demands. “What have you been writing about me and Liam? Is it worse than all that shit you wrote about your ex-fiancé?”

His words make Louis feel like he has been punched in the stomach. “I wouldn’t- I _didn’t_ ,” he tries.

“You wrote so many awful things in your first book that you couldn’t even use Isaac’s real name. How do I know you haven’t done the same thing to us?” He twists away just as Louis reaches out to grab his hand. Louis rushes to follow him, watching as he grabs his keys and shoves his feet into his boots at the door. Each time he tries to explain himself, his tongue feels stuck to the roof of his mouth. He spent so much of the last few weeks denying how he felt about Harry, and only now that he’s leaving does Louis realize how much time he wasted.

“Harry, please don’t be this way. You don’t have to leave. I’m sorry.”

For a split second, Louis thinks Harry may reconsider, pausing just before walking out, but apparently his words aren’t enough. “You never wanted me here in the first place,” he says, his hurt eyes meeting Louis' one last time before he’s gone. The door shuts quietly behind him as if he were never there at all.

Louis keeps staring at the door like it might swing back open at any moment, but the seconds that tick by bleed into minutes, and after a while Louis realizes that Harry is really gone.

The giant cake in the center of Louis’ kitchen table greets him as he slumps down into his chair. Having something so beautiful in his home had brought a smile to his face earlier, but now Louis feels sick at the sight of it.

He opens the laptop that caused so much trouble just minutes before, his eyes tearing up when he pulls up his document, all of his own stupid words jumping out at him from the screen like a punishment. He shouldn’t have accused Harry. He has no clue why he did. He knows that Harry would never intentionally do something to cause Louis to distrust him.

The thoughts in his mind are too much, so he sighs when he clicks away from his rough draft, finding a check-up email from Niall.

‘We’re getting so close! How’s everything looking on your end? I’m sure it’s great. Everyone here is so excited to read the whole draft! Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything before Friday. Can’t wait for celebratory drinkssss! –Niall’

Reading such an enthusiastic message from his friend would normally make him at least crack a grin, but tonight Niall’s reminder email couldn’t have come at a worse time. A gentle reminder of the dread that Friday is sure to bring.


	16. Chapter 16

He has to squeeze his eyes shut as soon as he opens them on Thursday morning due to his head thumping a painful, terrible rhythm directly behind his eyes. He couldn’t sleep until after five in the morning, and all the time he spent trying beforehand was spent regretting every decision he made that evening. He isn’t exactly sure what his dreams consisted of once he finally drifted off, but he woke up with a heavy feeling in his gut and the inability to forget the look on Harry’s face when he left.

Louis’ only attempt at contacting Harry was an aborted phone call to the bakery after he stormed out, knowing he would have to return the van to the shop before going home. The phone rang twice before someone snatched it up, giving Louis virtually no time at all to prepare the proper apology he needed to make. The silence on the other end made his tongue feel numb and heavy in his mouth, the feeling only intensifying when a familiar voice breathed his name into the receiver like it hurt to say.

He hung up before Harry could say anything else.

Niall tries contacting him again when his first check-up email doesn’t receive a response, but his second goes unanswered as well. Louis can’t answer him. He can’t share in everyone else’s excitement about his book when he’s feeling like this.

His draft is as complete as it’s ever going to be, ending with over four hundred pages of words that should have been spoken out loud when he had the chance. He pictures his book, months from now, sitting in the window of some shop or featured on some late night show or magazine, and Harry, completely caught off guard when he finally gives into his curiosity and reads it. He’ll read every thought that Louis has had since meeting him; the good, the bad, and the secret things Louis could never bring himself to admit.

Just imagining it makes his skin prick up with chills.

The guilt of pushing Harry away over something as trivial as his rough draft eats away at him all morning until it’s after two in the afternoon and he has done nothing but mope around. He doesn’t know what to do with himself now that his draft is technically finished. He has nowhere to be and no one to interview, and he’s sure that Harry doesn’t want to speak to him, but even with that knowledge Louis wishes he were there in the kitchen again, elbow deep in baking flour and sugar, grinning and bickering with Harry over things that now seem pointless compared to the mess Louis just caused.

After he has had as much as he can take, Louis decides to take a walk under the illusion of clearing his head in the fresh air. That had been the plan, however Louis’ one track mind causes him to hastily grab his keys on the way out the door. He heads straight to his car, forgoing the walk altogether and heading straight to the bakery with even less of a formulated plan than when he called and hung up the night before.

The drive to H&L Creative Cakes seems to take half of the usual amount of time as Louis tries to sort through his mind to find the correct combination of regret and honesty that might convince Harry to not hate him. Before he knows it he’s pulled up in front of the shop.

He isn’t sure what to expect when he arrives partly because he didn’t actually consider what would happen if he ran into Harry upon getting there. Luckily Louis walks in to find Liam behind the display case instead, the smiling man unknowingly providing Louis with a few buffer moments of clarity before going into the fray.

“Louis! There you are!” He smiles big and bright as soon as Louis steps inside. “I was wondering when you’d get here. Tell me all about the wedding! Did she love the cake?” Liam immediately launches into a full inquiry about a fabricated event that Louis lacks the energy to lie about at the moment. His eyes turn concerned when Louis nods without returning his smile. “Is –Is there something wrong?”

“No. Everything’s fine...she loved it, Li.” Louis tries to appear as if everything is alright, but his head is still lightly thumping and he feels so exhausted that his attempted smile is strained. “I uh, I kind of need to talk to Harry if he’s around…”

Liam searches his face, clearly unconvinced that Louis is okay. “Yeah, sure, he’s here,” he frowns, “But something’s not right with him either. He’s been acting weird all day long. When he’s not in the kitchen he’s hiding in the office. He hasn’t said much at all…not even to me,” he says softly. A crease forms between Liam’s eyebrows as he observes Louis’ reaction to his words. “Are you two fighting again? Things were going so well between you.”

Things were amazing until he made Harry feel like shit. Louis grins to himself, his eyes sad as he thinks about the truth of Liam’s statement. “Things were great.”

Liam frowns, probably wondering how his two idiot friends are so skilled at hurting one another. “What happened?”

Louis isn’t sure if he even knows what happened, but he does know that he can’t make it right by stalling for time in the lobby.

 

The floor creaks when Louis finally makes his way down the narrow walkway to the office. His grand plan of apologizing gets interrupted when he goes to step into the room and finds for the first time that the door is closed, and what’s even more surprising is that it’s locked.

Louis knocks, three soft taps against the wood, anxiously waiting for something to happen on the other side but no one comes to the door. He knocks again; harder this time, but again, nothing happens. “It’s me,” he announces through the wood, pressing his ear against the door to check that Harry is actually in there like Liam said. Right when he leans against it he feels the door yank forward, causing Louis to stumble. He roughly regains his balance after Harry catches him, standing him upright.

“Sorry,” he offers for stepping all over Harry in the doorway. Harry blinks down at him with very little emotion. He didn’t even flinch when Louis ran into him. “I uh, I knocked a few times when I saw it was locked, but I guess you couldn’t hear,” Louis reasons.

“I heard. Liam has a key if he needs to get into the office.”

Louis narrows his eyes at that. “Then what was the point of locking it if he has a key?”

“ _Liam_ wasn’t the person I was trying to keep out,” he says in a nasty tone that Louis hasn’t heard from him in weeks.

Louis blinks down at the floor wondering what he expected just showing up here. He came to make things right, but if Harry truly doesn’t want him there then he deserves his privacy.

“I can leave. Do you want me to leave? I can if you want.”

“You can do whatever you’d like, Louis. It’s not like you ever listen to anything I say or _believe me_ when I say it,” he spits. He was clearly going for detached, crossing his arms in front of his chest in indifference, but he fails miserably when he meets Louis’ eyes again.

“Harry,” Louis sighs, the lines of his forehead becoming more defined when he squeezes his eyes shut. “I am so sorry for that. I know you didn’t go through my computer. I already told you-”

An irritated huff interrupts his words before Harry scrubs a hand down his face. “It’s not about the fucking computer, Lou,” he snaps out of frustration. “It’s about you not trusting me!” Louis stops trying to apologize when he sees that he’s only making things worse. His rise in volume seems to make time freeze around them. They stand in silence until Harry continues, his voice a bit quieter, but retaining every bit of exasperation he feels. “I asked you to give us a chance because I thought we could work, but I spend half of my time trying to show you that I’m not going to leave you like Isaac and then rest of the time we spend arguing like children.”

“I know you’re not like Isaac,” Louis insists.

“Do you? Because I feel like you’re just waiting for me to fuck up so you can have another excuse to throw it back in my face and say I told you so, so you can go back to hating the world and claiming love doesn’t exist…I don’t want to end up reading about myself as some nameless character in one of your books when we don’t work out.”

Louis’ stomach drops. He has no idea when Harry started thinking this way.

“ _When_ we don’t work out?” he breathes. “Harry, I would never do that to you. I- You’re- You’re not _nameless_ …why would you ever think that? Why wouldn’t we work out?”

For as long as Louis has known him, Harry has been convinced that they might belong together, that Louis deserves another chance at happiness, maybe even a chance with _him_. He remembers how concerned Liam had been when Harry ended things with Sam, revealing that Harry never walks away unless it’s for a good reason…Louis’ stomach turns in on itself realizing that Harry’s reason is him.

“Louis, look at us. It’s already not working,” he whispers.

Louis wonders if Liam can hear their break-up from wherever he is in the shop right now, if anyone else just felt the way Louis’ heart collapsed inside of his chest. He had thought a simple apology would be enough, but now that he’s standing here with Harry trying to gently cut him loose he realizes how naïve that idea had been.

His eyes flicker around the threshold as they stand there in silence.

“Do you want me to leave?” Louis asks with what little breath he has left. He repeats his original question, hoping for a different reaction from Harry than the one he got last time. He thinks he has gotten his wish when Harry steps forward to place a kiss against Louis’ temple and he can feel Harry’s sad grin against his skin.

Harry’s lips tremble against him as he holds Louis there. “We aren’t even really in a relationship, remember? You can do whatever you want.”

The truth of his words makes Louis turn his face away, his eyes burning when Harry reaches out for his hand. He takes several steps back, gently pulling his fingers out of Harry’s grip when it’s too much for him.

Neither of them even says goodbye when Louis finally turns to leave. Harry shuts the office door and Louis waits around in the walkway to hear the click of the lock, but it never comes.

 

Liam calls out to him when he walks by, the look on his face telling Louis that he heard every word.

He wraps Liam in a hug, holding him there in an attempt to thank him for everything over Liam asking him a dozen different questions. When he pulls away Liam looks torn between trying to comfort Louis and going to check on his friend who’s hiding inside the office. Louis hugs him once more, making the decision easier for Liam by saying goodbye and walking out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

He ignores every email and text message that Niall sends until he gets fed up and calls Louis several times in a row. Louis only answers because he can no longer bear to hear it vibrate against the floor.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, Lou. How’s everything? I’ve been trying to get up with you all day, mate.”

Louis pinches the bridge of his nose to alleviate the pain behind his eyes. “Yeah, Ni, I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Lou,” Niall says easily. “I know you’ve been working hard. I get it.” Louis doesn’t feel like he has done anything productive within the last few hours besides make incredibly dumb decisions, but he’s not going to argue with Niall when he’s being so nice.

“Where are you now? Are you at home?” Niall asks.

Louis knows better than to fall for that trick again. “Uh no. I’m not- I’m uh, I’m on the road actually,” he lies. Louis hasn’t left his couch since leaving the bakery.

“Really? That’s interesting,” Niall hums into the phone. “I just passed your car on the way in.”

Louis sits up at that. “What do you mean on the way in?”

“I _mean_ I’m on the way into your building. I’m outside. I’ll be at your door in, I don’t know, like… twenty seconds?” Louis’ head pounds on instinct.

Only about ten seconds pass before Niall’s light knocks echo from the other side of his door. Louis swears into the receiver, forgetting that Niall can still hear him.

Louis drags himself to open the door. He meets Niall with apologetic eyes, however Niall doesn’t pay his remorse any attention, his ready- to-scold expression fading the moment he lays eyes on him.

“Jesus, Lou. I thought you were finished with the book. You look worse than you did before you started it.”

Louis hasn’t seen himself lately, but he can only assume that he looks as shitty as he feels.

“I’m sorry I lied about being home,” he offers in lieu of explaining why he looks so awful.

“It’s okay. I figured something was up when you kept avoiding me, so I’m glad I came over.” Niall gives him another once over, a tiny crease forming between his eyebrows. “Does this have something to do with the draft? I thought you only had a couple of small things to work on?”

“No. The draft’s done. Everything’s fine. Ready to go,” Louis assures him.

“Okay. Then why haven’t you sent it in to the publishers, or at least to me?” Louis doesn’t have an answer to that. When he got home from seeing Harry he stared at his rough draft for over an hour trying to convince himself that it’s all really over; the interviews, the bakery, _Harry_ , all of it. Louis wrote his book. He did what he was supposed to do within his allotted time frame, however each time he considers sending it in he can’t do it without it feeling wrong somehow. Dishonest _._

“So this about Harry, then?”

Louis’ eyes give him away, “No. It’s about nothing.”

He’s met with a sarcastic expression. “Okaaaay,” Niall plays along, clapping his hands together. “Then send me the draft! Let’s end it and go get drinks since everything’s fine! Let’s get it over with. Book two, checked off and done.”

A month ago Niall’s invitation would’ve sounded like a dream. To type up a sequel as fast and painlessly as he possibly could, just to get it into the hands of his publisher so they would stop breathing down his neck.  Today it sounds like torture. Niall gives him a knowing look when he says nothing. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Tell who what?”

Niall stares at him for a long time. Louis hates when he does that. “You can keep pretending you don’t care about him all you want, but in a few months the whole world is going to know how you feel, and that includes Harry. You should’ve told him. You can tell him right now,” Niall argues.

Louis shakes his head, knowing that isn’t an option anymore. “He wouldn’t believe me even if I did, Niall. He doesn’t want to hear from me.” Niall doesn’t give him the look of sympathy he was expecting.

“What the hell did you do?”

Louis scoffs at him. “What do you mean what did _I_ do? How do you know it wasn’t _him_?” Niall gives him a flat look that makes Louis sigh in defeat. “Alright fine, whatever, it was me,” he admits. He avoids Niall’s gaze for so long that Niall lets out a long, drawn out sigh of impatience. “He thinks I don’t trust him…” Louis finally says.

“Well he’s not going to trust _you_ in a few months when he reads a book that contradicts every conversation the two of you have ever had.”

Louis sighs as he takes a seat on his couch. Niall rolls his eyes at the way Louis pinches at the bridge of his nose. He walks to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water and orders Louis to drink it. He sits down beside him with a stern expression as Louis takes a few sips.

“Okay first of all, that is the largest cake I have ever fucking seen.” Louis cracks a grin, almost forgetting the cake was even in there. Niall smiles with him for a bit, but his serious face quickly returns. “Second, this draft _has_ to be sent in, Louis, regardless of whether or not you ever speak to Harry again. It’s going to be promoted, published, and printed,” he lists off one by one on his fingers. “And I don’t know about Harry, but I’d want to know if someone was in love with me _before_ the rest of the world found out.” Louis’ coughs into his glass at that, but Niall doesn’t even give him a chance to deny it, talking right over his sounds of protest. “Louis you can tell him or not tell him, but it’s due in the morning either way, mate, and you’re running out of time.”

He finishes, watching Louis fail to find a third option. It doesn’t take long before Louis realizes that there isn’t one.

Niall gives him a tight hug on his way out the door, leaving Louis standing there with no direction and no idea what to do.

Louis glances in the direction of his laptop and the mountain of cake. He walks over to his kitchen table and sinks down in front of his document once more, wondering how he could possibly express everything he needs Harry to know from his rough draft without sending the whole thing to him. It doesn’t take him long to realize again that he can’t.

Sending Harry his entire draft without any prelude or context feels just as wrong as sending it to his publisher without Harry knowing the truth, so he hits enter a few times at the beginning of his document, inserting a quote he once heard and mocked. He laughs to himself, finding it hard to believe that the words are now applicable to him despite his best efforts to end up alone.

 

_“Those who desire love try to find their soulmate. Those who desire happiness find themselves… and then their soulmate finds them.”_

 

When that’s done he scrolls down to his final chapter and stares at the blank page, knowing he can’t let his book end the way it currently does, with no clear resolution and no way for Harry to know how much of an influence he has had on his heart. He types _Afterward_ at the top of the new page and gets to work explaining himself and his actions not only to his readers, but most importantly, to Harry.

He pulls up the bakery’s website for the first time in weeks after he’s finished, clicking around until he finds an email address. He addresses it to Harry in the subject line, attaching his rough draft and a few lines of text in the body to accompany it:

‘You once said that great writing speaks for itself. I’m not sure if you or anyone else would consider this great, but I hope it’s enough to speak for me _._ This is my book. No edits and no lies, and you should have the honor of reading it first. – Lou. _’_

He hits send without another thought.

*

Waiting for Harry to respond to him is a million times more nerve wracking than when Louis sent his first book to the shop back when they first met. Hours pass and blur, and before Louis knows it he’s compulsively checking his email, texts, and Twitter in case Harry feels inclined to contact him and he misses it. There’s always the chance that Harry may not even be reading the draft in the first place of course, but Louis really hopes that he is.

Around midnight Louis starts to think Harry really is back to ignoring him again, because it has been over four hours and he’s heard nothing at all, not even a fuck you from the second chapter where he said Harry viewed the world with an exaggerated, yet unfounded optimism found mostly in today’s oblivious youth. He knows Harry would call him out on that the moment he read it, and if that comment wasn’t enough to warrant at least a disapproving text message, then the later chapters where Louis starts to consider Harry’s ideas in a different, more respected light should earn him a lifetime worth of hypocritical ranting.

Louis crawls into his bed around two in the morning, his eyes exhausted from monitoring the unchanging screen of his phone for so long. He falls asleep with it in his hand, jolting himself awake to check it each time he accidentally drifts off.

He checks it for the last time around three, finally accepting Harry’s silence for what it is. Niall told him to tell Harry the truth; he never said Harry had to accept it or give a shit, so Louis places his phone on his bedside table and closes his eyes for the night.

*

When Louis wakes up, he expects the sunlight to painfully blare through his window, but oddly enough, there’s very little light shining in. He sits up rubbing at his eyes as he grabs his phone. He holds his breath, even though he knows he shouldn’t expect anything, and just as he figured there’s nothing there except the time. It’s barely even six o’clock.

He stays in bed for the better part of an hour before he forces himself up and to his laptop. He looks at the date when he drops down in front of the screen, still amazed that he managed to write the book on time.

He only has a few mixed emotions left about sharing his story with the world after giving Harry the opportunity to read it and contact him should he disagree with anything he wrote. Louis didn’t want him to object of course, however he did hope Harry would have found it in his heart to reconsider them after reading it. Sadly, Louis can’t make Harry forgive him, no matter how much he wishes he could, so he hits send, emailing his finished book to Niall and to his publisher, just as it is, no edits and no lies.

*

It’s nearly eight when Louis’ stomach grumbles, prompting him to slice a piece of Liam’s cake for breakfast. He ends up cutting a larger section than he wanted when he thinks he hears a faint knocking at his door. Louis pauses to listen for a few seconds afterwards, his hopes falling when nothing else catches his ear. He breaks off a piece of the cake with his fingers and takes a bite, this time pausing and turning when he hears three unmistakable knocks against his door.

He places his breakfast on the table to check his phone for any missed calls from Niall, the only person who would ever just show up at his door, but there’s nothing.

Louis makes his way over, reaching out to open the door, changing his mind half way through and letting his arm swing back at his side. He takes a shaky breath to ask who’s there, but before he can get the words out the person knocks again with an impatient, muffled huff.

“I know you’re at the door already. I can hear you in there.” Louis yanks at the handle, feeling like he’s in a dream when the door swings open. The warm green of Harry’s eyes is the first thing Louis notices, brighter and so much more alive than the last time they were face to face. “Took you long enough,” he drawls, and although it’s nothing compared to what it could be, there’s the smallest hint of a grin is tugging at Harry’s lips.

“Sorry. I wasn’t sure if someone was knocking or... I- I,” Louis’ sentence loses form with each second that passes. He’s just so happy to see Harry at his door. “Hi,” is all he can manage without sounding like a complete idiot.

Harry doesn’t return his flustered greeting, choosing instead to get right to the point as always. “I got your email.”

“Oh?” Louis’ stomach knots up at the direction their conversation is going.  

He’s fearful of what Harry might say and terrified of everything he now knows, but Harry drove all the way over here to see him… that’s either a very good sign, or a really, _really_ bad one. At the moment, Louis can’t tell which.

He had been expecting the worst, wringing his hands behind his back, but the question Harry finally asks surprises him, causing Louis to blink up at him for a couple of moments in confusion. “Can I come in?”

“Please,” Louis nods, stepping aside to let him pass.

Harry’s chest rises and falls with a deep breath when he walks in. He goes to the living room, restlessly hovering near the couch like he’s unsure if he should sit down. He only takes a seat after Louis does, perching at the end of the couch cushion, leaving a noticeable space between their bodies.

Louis wants to slide over so that they’re a bit closer, but he resists the urge to move. For hours Louis wanted nothing more than for Harry to respond to him. Harry physically showing up at his door is more than he ever hoped for, so he doesn’t dare speak first and ruin it.

Their mutual silence stretches between them for a long time before Harry deeply inhales yet again, preparing to take the plunge. “I got your email,” he begins again, this time sounding more confident. “And I read what you wrote. I read all of it, and I just- there are some things I need you to clarify. There are things I need to hear straight from you.”

Louis swallows thickly, taking a deep breath of his own. “Okay,” he nods, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever Harry’s about to throw at him. “W-Whatever you want.”

Harry holds his gaze, his shoulders tense when he begins. “You said you interviewed me and Liam so you could have different perspectives for your story, but you didn’t write as much about Liam…actually, most of it was about me,” he says carefully. “Why is it mostly about me?”

Louis sighs, hating that the discrepancy between his two sources is so noticeable. “I did write a lot about you, but I didn’t mean to…I didn’t even realize I was doing that until it was too late to go back and change anything. I tried to keep it balanced, but.” He shrugs, not really knowing how to explain how he became so fixated on him. Harry’s eyes search his face until he nods once, accepting Louis’ vague response as an answer.

“Alright,” he says, narrowing his eyes in accusation. “Next, you called me delusional, naïve, annoyingly opinionated, rude, infuriating, vain…” the list goes on and on. Louis shrinks into himself each time Harry recalls another name, but Harry pauses after a while, taking a deep, cleansing breath.

“I was surprised you had the nerve to call me all of those things, knowing I would eventually read them…” The new softness of his voice causes Louis to look up. “I expected you to call me some of those things, but I was more surprised to see that you called me by my name as well.”

“Harry, I told you you’re not nameless. You’re too important to be another prince charming.” Louis says most of that to the floor, his skin heating up from feeling Harry’s eyes on him. Harry slides a bit closer so that their legs line up causing Louis’ breath to catch in his throat.

“You said I was beautiful,” Harry continues. “That my beliefs make you jealous because you used to think the way that I do. You said I make you want to believe in love again… and that when you’re with me, sometimes you do.” Louis’ heart stutters in his chest when Harry’s hand reaches out to hold his. “Lou, why did you wait so long to tell me those things if that’s how you feel?”

His hatred for having to talk about these kinds of things is the main reason Louis never said any of it out loud. He’s half tempted to pull out of Harry’s grip right now from how foolish he feels.

“Because Harry, I spent so much time trying to convince everyone that I don’t need anybody that I feel stupid realizing that I do.” Louis’ whole career is based on the idea that people don’t need relationships to thrive in life; that you can make it without depending on someone else. “I feel like a liar every time we’re together because all I want is to be with you. And I know it might hurt me later on, I know you might walk out my life like everyone else, and I know everyone’s going to say I’m a hypocrite, but I can’t help it. I still want you.”

Slight confusion flashes in Harry’s eyes. “Louis, you were hurting when you wrote those things. No one is going to think you’re a liar or a hypocrite because you’ve found someone that makes you happy.”

“Oh yes they will,” Louis laughs humorlessly to himself. “I’m going to be torn to pieces by critics all saying I told you so. I’m going to have to defend my first book while defending my new one and everyone is going to think I’m a fraud.”

Harry frowns at the worried lines carved into his face. “So, let them,” he says simply, squeezing Louis’ hand. Louis feels Harry’s breath against his skin when Harry leans in to rest their heads together. The gesture makes him feel like maybe he has been forgiven, but Louis can’t relax into it no matter how hard he tries.

“Harry you don’t understand what I’m saying,” he sighs, turning his face away. “I said so many awful things about love and fate and finding _the one_ that I’m going to sound like a complete nutter claiming that I’ve suddenly turned a new leaf and think that I’ve found all of that with you. My publishers are going to kill me,” he moans into his hands. “My readers won’t understand.”

He can hear and feel Harry laughing beside him as he pulls Louis’ hands away from his face. “Love, your book is amazing and people think you’re so talented. Everyone’s going to love it no matter what you wrote. How could they not?”

“Of course _you_ think it’s amazing,” Louis scoffs, “It’s _about_ you.” Louis rolls his eyes, now remembering exactly how _vain_ made it onto his very thorough list of insults.

“Well yes, but it’s also about being honest,” Harry argues, the amusement fading from his face. “You can’t help what you feel nor can you help when you feel it. Your fiancé ending your engagement was hard. No one can blame you for feeling the way you did, but the only difference I see between your first book and now is that you’re ready to move on from all of that. I _am_ glad it’s me you’re choosing to try with,” he grins, “But I’m more excited that you’re even trying at all, Lou. I meant it when I said you deserve a chance to be happy. Who wouldn’t understand that?”

His eyes are sincere, holding Louis’ gaze so that he can’t look anywhere else. “I’m sorry I lost it over the laptop,” he blurts out when he the whole reason for their fight suddenly comes rushing back to the forefront of his mind.

“You were absolutely ridiculous,” he snorts a laugh at Louis’ eye roll, “But after reading the rough draft, I get why. You weren’t ready for me to know some of the things you wrote.”

Louis feels like he’s still not ready for Harry to know how deeply he has fallen.

“I know I was a dick, but I didn’t know how you’d react. I was-” Louis takes a deep breath, forcing the truth out of his mouth. “I was scared you’d change your mind if you knew…”

Harry leans in, creating a warm stirring sensation in Louis chest when their lips connect. He rests their heads together again after he pulls back, Harry’s fingers lightly tracing Louis’ skin.

“I already told you, I won’t be changing my mind, love.” Louis’ eyelids flutter shut at the endearment. He feels Harry’s silent chuckles shaking them when he notices. “What?” he laughs, sitting back a bit to see him. “Is love so horrible of a name that it makes you cringe?” He doesn’t look offended. Louis can tell that he’s more amused at his reaction than anything else.

“No.” he shakes his head. “It’s not horrible at all. I like it, actually,” he whispers.

When he opens his eyes Harry is grinning at him like he’s not real. “You don’t mind? But you _hate_ pet names,” he annoyingly reminds him.

“Well I also used to hate you, so.”

Louis can see the smirk pulling at the corners of Harry’s lips before he bursts out laughing. “You are _such_ a gentleman. What would I do with your constant flattery?”

Louis grips Harry’s face in both hands, causing his eyebrows to arch in surprise at the unexpected kiss. Louis holds him close, reacquainting himself with the feel of him against his skin. When he pulls back Harry’s eyes are the ones fluttering shut. “God, I’ve missed this,” Harry mumbles against his lips.

Louis nods, knowing exactly how he feels. “I missed _you._ ”


	18. Chapter 18

The nerves and adrenaline coursing through Louis’ veins force him to take slow steady breaths as he listens to his own introduction being given to the crowd of fans waiting for him. Nearly a year has passed since Louis was standing in this exact spot all those months ago, closing out his first book tour. He shakes out his hands at his side, feeling his own energy bolting through him at the feeling of being back here to kick off his second tour.

The shop owner, just as long winded as ever, continues to gush about him, going on and on about his first visit and how that fateful night shaped the narrative for Louis’ second book, _Revising the Fairytale: Lessons and Universal Truths of Falling in Love._ She brags like she and Louis are old friends, her familiarity with him causing the audience to burst into applause when her speech is finally over.

She grips his hand in her spindly fingers, practically dragging Louis in front of the podium to face the excited room of readers. Louis clears his throat, smiling at their warm welcome. Each time he goes to speak, the crowd erupts into another wave of cheers. He has to bite down on his grin from how good it feels to be so warmly accepted.

“Alright, alright,” he rolls his eyes, feigning annoyance as he holds up his hands to try and quiet them for good. “My head’s getting heavier by the second,” he jokes.

The audience is filtered with soft laughter as they beam up at him from their seats. Niall gives him a sneaky thumbs up when the room starts to get quiet. Louis goes  right into his speech once the room is silent.

“As you may know from Mrs. Edmondson’s wonderful introduction,” he begins, turning to where she’s blushing off to the side, “My first book led me here to this very shop for the last reading of my tour. I met a lot of you during the signing earlier who said you were here that night, and to that, all I can give are my deepest apologies for you having to witness that train wreck of an evening,” he laughs.

Some people giggle, others look at him in slight confusion. “For those of you who weren’t here that night, allow me paint the scene for you. Touring had pretty much drained me at that point and the only thing I really wanted was a good night’s sleep in my own home, with my own pillows and sheets. Not that I didn’t love and appreciate each and every fan who came out to see me,” he assures them, “But _nothing_ beats your own bed. I’m sure you can agree,” he grins, causing everyone to empathize and grin with him.

Louis runs his index finger down the cover of his book where it’s resting against the podium, marveling at his own name printed on the sleeve. “I had thought I was one signing away from the end of my tour,” Louis tells them, “I thought I was one reading away from a long, overdue nap in my bed, but as you all know, fate had other plans for me.”

“There was a young man in the audience that night, a fan who had come to my reading, dragging with him his tall, annoying, unfairly attractive and opinionated best friend who wanted nothing more than to push my buttons and delay my post-tour slumber. The reader’s name was Liam Payne, and he was the loveliest fan I had ever encountered. His tall, lanky friend however,” Louis bites down on his lip to control his grin, “He was one of the most persistent and tenacious critics I had ever met and he gave me a run for my money right here in this very room as he grilled me about my first book, about my own philosophies about love, and then told me straight to my face that I was wrong.”

Louis remembers the complete disbelief and outrage he felt from such a bold stranger calling him out in front of an audience of his own fans. He wonders where he’d be today if he hadn’t.

“That night, Harry Styles made an impression on me that would cause me to embark on a series of highly questionable antics such as stalking him down through social media and ordering a wedding cake that ended up in the garbage after it got so stale that a blade could no longer pierce it.” Louis pauses for the crowd’s light chuckles and then continues.  “Many interesting things took place after meeting Harry, and I was pretty much convinced that he was the worst human on Earth, but at the time I was also so cynical and blind that I couldn’t see the other things he had to offer. I had no idea what was to come.”

The eerie calm that falls over the crowd makes Louis skin flush as Louis takes out his glasses and slips them onto his face. He thumbs to the center of the book where he knows Niall flagged the part he’s supposed to read, but the flag has been moved. Louis frowns as he flips to where the note is now sticking out of the pages, bypassing Niall’s chapter altogether and landing at the end of the book at the afterword.

Louis scans the crowd from where he’s standing, squinting his eyes until he finds that familiar head of chocolate curls. He spots him towards the middle, giving Harry a chastising look, knowing it could only have been him who moved the flag. He’s met with a bright, supernova of a smile as Harry innocently blinks back like he has done nothing at all.

“So, I had planned to read a selection from chapter four, but it seems that one particularly _enthusiastic_ reader just couldn’t resist tampering with my book and wants me to read another section.” Niall’s eyes go wide from where he’s sitting in the front row. He shifts like he’s about to run to the podium and relocate the correct page, but Louis holds up a hand, assuring him that everything is fine. Pages from the audience members’ books turn along with him after Louis announces the page. He gives Harry a quick flash of a smile, taking a deep, steadying breath before beginning.

_“Another universal truth that everyone can acknowledge is that people love to ask where you see yourself in the future five or ten years from where you currently are, with most people ignoring the fact that their polite questioning is absolutely none of their fucking business, and all of them assuming that you’ll provide an answer that demonstrates a desire for growth. A longing for expectation, progress, and most importantly, hope._

_Had you asked me where I saw myself in the future after Charming walked out on our engagement, I would’ve given you the answer of a man who would never again expect a thing; not from himself, and definitely not from anyone else._

_I was resolved to live my life as it was; alone. I never thought ahead, seeing someone growing grey by my side. I didn’t see myself with a spouse or a family of my own, because that would require a commitment from another person, something I knew I would never have._

_If you think the man I’ve just described sounds like a person that had given up then you’re right, because I had, but luckily for me, there was one person who hadn’t._

_For over a year I had convinced myself and the rest of the world that I would no longer believe in stories and fairytales. I had successfully exiled my heart away from any future prince charmings, but as it turns out, it was a shining knight that ending up saving me. He saw through my fear when I claimed I didn’t need anyone. He knew that I was lying about having feelings for him, and he saw right through the mask I wore to pretend that I was alright. No matter the excuse I provided he was always there to call me on it, and for that I can’t thank the Shining Knight enough._

_If you think the man I’ve just described sounds completely amazing, then you’re right, because he is. Harry Styles is arguably the best thing to ever happen to me, which is why I’m feeling so lost without him. I pushed him away though I didn’t mean to, and although I once saw myself ending up alone, I’m now finding it difficult to see myself in the future without him there too. I’m not sure if he’ll believe anything I’ve written or if he’ll even care enough to read it in the first place, but I do know that I had stopped believing in destiny until I met him. I had thought all the fairytales were dead, but Harry, he brought them back to life.”_

Louis lets out a shaky breath as his readers erupt into another wave of applause. He briefly dips his head to get a handle on the rush of nerves he feels as the crowd reacts to some of the most candid emotions he’s ever shared. He smiles to himself, his eyes stinging a bit at the corners as he thanks them.

The question and answer session begins once Louis is feeling less nervous. He calls on a shy looking woman with her hand raised in the air. Louis offers her a kind smile as she stands. “Hello, Louis! I absolutely love your writing. The only thing I want to know is how you dealt with your own perspective changing in the midst of writing. Did you changing your mind about relationships change the direction of your book?”

Louis laughs into the microphone remembering how he had absolutely _no_ direction for months.

“Actually, when I started I had a bit of writer’s block,” Niall snorts at that. Louis does his best to ignore him. “In the beginning I had no clear plan of what I was going to write, so a change of heart was exactly what I needed.”

More hands go flying into the air when Louis is finished giving his answer. He calls on a few more readers with fairly simple questions about Liam and whether or not he’s still with Sophia, or if he plans to write a third book. He can’t even remember what he was so nervous about until one woman’s question catches his attention and makes his pulse pick up.

“You once wrote that the emotions a person feels in the beginning stages of a relationship can’t be trusted because they’re so unclear. How can you ever be sure that what you feel isn’t infatuation or simple convenience?” she asks. “How do you know?”

A critic who reviewed his second book posed the same question to him a few weeks ago. Louis didn’t have a great answer then and he still doesn’t now so he just shares what was true for him.

“Every relationship I’ve ever had has started out the exact same way with me falling head over heels and the other person hardly even noticing.” He finds Harry’s encouraging smile in the middle of the crowd, his green eyes holding his gaze. “I don’t know what changes when you find someone you truly want to be with. The only answer I can give is that when it’s genuine and when it’s real, then you’ll know.”

The woman nods, satisfied with that as she takes her seat. Louis calls on a man whose hand shoots into the air after. “But how did you know it was real with the Shining Knight since you hadn’t known him for very long?”

“Well, I didn’t know at first,” Louis admits. “I fell for him so quickly that I was sure I was making the same mistake again. I think what made me wake up and realize that I needed him was him walking out on my sorry arse,” he laughs.

Another man raises his hand, “How did he react after he read the book?” Several people shift forward in their seats at his question, everyone clearly caught up in the Knight’s story. Louis fights the urge to roll his eyes when he spots Harry grinning smugly where he’s leaned back in his chair.

“Besides having the task of balancing his own inflated head, I think he was very pleased with the outcome. I portrayed him as true to character as words would allow.” Louis smirks, watching Harry’s mouth form a small pout.

Louis is just about to call on a woman sitting in the front when a familiar deep voice speaks up out of nowhere, cutting him off. “Tell us your favorite thing about the Knight.”

Louis shoots a look of warning in Harry’s direction. He doesn’t even blink an eye at the shocked look on Louis’ face. “Uh…he’s very kind. Next question,” Louis mutters, searches the crowd for someone who looks like they may have a question that _doesn’t_ pertain to the idiot currently smirking at him.

“Did you feel bad calling him all of those rude things when you first started interviewing him? Did you apologize to the Knight? I think you should.”

Members of the audience turn to try and find the source of these anonymous questions and Louis rolls his eyes wondering why he even let Harry come. “I think _the Knight_ is going to feel bad if he keeps interrupting my Q &A session.” Laughter filters through the room again as Harry cackles in his seat. Louis fights to keep his grin under control but gives up after the whole crowd starts cheering them on.

Louis eventually regains control over the session, having time to call on one last reader. Louis recognizes the woman who stands. She seemed nervous when he met her at the book signing earlier today, but she seems much more at ease now that Harry has lightened the mood.

“I’m sorry to ask such a serious question at the very end of your night,” she apologizes. Louis shakes his head, assuring her that whatever she wants to know is fine. He just hopes it isn’t something that’s going to cause him to think really hard for an answer. “I’ve read your book a few times so I know how much you cared for Harry even when you thought you hated him. You describe the love you feel for him as genuine and unique, and although you never believed in fate or destiny until recently, I was curious to know if you think you’ve found your soulmate.”

Louis used to think the concept of an outside force playing matchmaker with people’s lives was laughable, but the concept seems less silly the more he thinks about it. If Isaac hadn’t left him he would never have written his first book, and without the success of his first book he wouldn’t have had the need to write his second. If Liam hadn’t been heartbroken he never would’ve come out to Louis’ signing that night, and if Harry wasn’t right where he was supposed to be, kindly supporting his best friend and purposefully driving Louis insane then who knows where they would be.

Louis finds himself smiling into the center of the crowd when he finally answers. “A very wise baker once said that true love is so rare that only a handful of lucky people on this Earth ever find it, and that when most people are faced with it, they’re too busy looking the other way to know that their soulmate is standing right in front of them. People miss their chances all the time, so I can’t say for sure if Harry and I are destined to be together, but I’m glad that I haven’t missed my chance with him.”

*

The crowd trickles out little by little, with most of his fans stopping by to say goodnight. Louis is just shrugging out of his jacket when a pair of arms wrap around him from behind, causing the jacket to fall right back onto his shoulders.

“ _Noooo,_ not yet, _”_ Harry whines next to his ear. “Leave it on a while longer. I never get to see you all dressed up like an author.”

“It’s just a jacket, love. It’s not exactly high fashion.”

“But you look so good in it,” Harry argues, letting his hands travel the dip of his waist.

Louis rolls his eyes, shifting in Harry’s grip so that he’s facing him. “I’ll strut around the bedroom in full tuxedo since you like it so much.”

Harry’s gaze turns dreamy, imagining it. “Mmmmm,” he hums. “I would love that. Undressing you would be half the fun.”

“It would take you so long to undo the cufflinks I’d be asleep by the time you got me naked.”

Harry laughs, lifting a hand to his mouth to muffle it when they get a look from the shop owner tidying up around them. Louis shrugs out of Harry’s half-grip to finally take the jacket off, leaving it folded neatly on the podium. He stretches, his spine loud from standing up for so long.

Louis walks over to the chairs and sinks into the first one he touches. Harry gives him a look of sympathy when he yawns into his fist, giving Harry a sleepy grin as he sits down next to him.

The way Harry watches him makes Louis’ skin heat up as he pulls Louis into his side, pressing a couple of soft kisses to his temple. “I am so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Harry.”

Harry hugs him tighter when he goes to sit up. “I’m serious, Lou. I’m so proud of you. You were amazing.”

Louis flushes again, feeling the apples of his cheeks heat up where Harry places another kiss.

“Well if I was amazing then you were annoying,” he quips, poking Harry in the side to make him laugh. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist chiming in during Harry Hour.”

“What can I say? People love the Knight,” he smirks, slinking back in his seat.

“The Knight loves the sound of his own voice. I’m thinking of rewriting the book and scratching out all the parts about him. I wonder what people will think then?”

“You’d be left with like… five pages. Liam’s parts are good, but I don’t think they’re enough to comprise a whole book.”

“There would be way more than five pages,” Louis argues, his eyebrows scrunching up as he tries to imagine his book without a word about Harry. He doesn’t say anything else when he isn’t entirely convinced that Harry is wrong.

“Speaking of Liam…” Harry stands to walk to the back of the room. Louis turns to watch him. He’s carrying a large bouquet of pink and white roses when he returns, the expensive looking vase reflecting all the light in the room. “He still feels awful for not being able to make it, so he sent these for you.” Louis excitedly grabs at the bouquet, clearly not expecting something like this from his absent friend. He reads the card attached with a smile.

‘ _Good luck kicking off your tour, Lou! We know you’ll be just as amazing as last time. Sorry that we couldn’t be there in person, but we know that Harry and Niall are doing a great job of supporting you tonight as always. We love you! Have a great reading! –Liam and Sophia._ ’

“Awww. That was thoughtful of them. I know they’re busy at Sophia’s parents... I didn’t think I’d get a gift, let alone some of my favorites.” Louis grins, bringing one of the pink blooms to his nose to smell. He never really appreciated flowers until meeting Harry and Liam. He has become so fond of them now that he even has a few vases full in his flat. There’s a softness in Harry’s eyes as he watches Louis smell each blossom, laughing when Louis sneezes into a few of them.

He shows Niall the flowers when he comes over and asks him to keep them safe until they leave. He gives Louis a tight hug, echoing Harry’s sentiments about how proud he is before leaving to talk to the shop owner and placing his new flowers on a shelf with the others he received from his family.

Louis sighs, feeling on top of the world. He glances over at Harry and there’s still a thoughtful sort of grin on his lips as he watches him.

“What?” Louis laughs. He tugs on one of Harry’s loose curls, watching it spring back into place. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Harry grabs his hand where it’s still playing in his hair, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. “Because there’s one more thing I have to give you.”

Louis blinks at him in surprise. “Awww, Harry, you and Li didn’t have to get me-”

Louis’ words die on his lips when Harry reaches into his pocket, holding out a flat black box for Louis to take.

His mouth goes dry at the sight of it, his tongue feeling a lot heavier than he remembers when Harry shifts closer in his seat. “H-Harry.” His voice sounds foreign in his own ears, barely even coming out as a whisper. “What are you- What?” he stammers.

Harry takes his hand, leaning in to kiss Louis’ slack mouth as he continues to flounder. No matter how hard he tries to speak nothing comes out except his uneven, panicked breaths.

“Louis, I love you so much. I am so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. I knew tonight would be great because I have so much confidence in you and your ability to shine. And I know this place is kind of special for us, so I wanted to make sure this night was special for you too.” The room starts to tilt when Harry drops his hand to fumble with the box that Louis still hasn’t taken. Louis isn’t moving, but the room sure is spinning around him.

He shakes his head, trying to tell Harry no, but his fingers keep working to open the box. It’s too fucking soon, just like he and Isaac all that time ago. Things between him and Harry have been so wonderful. It has felt like a dream just being with him these few months and now it’s all about to go to shit the moment Harry slips that fucking engagement watch onto his finger. Louis blinks up at Harry a few times in confusion when he catches sight of it.

“A watch?” His mouth manages to push out the two simple words as Harry frowns at the wide set of Louis’ eyes, anxiety clearly written all over his face. Harry stops trying to unclasp it once he registers the rapid rising and falling of Louis’ chest.

“Yeah, it’s just a watch, Lou. What did you think?” Harry watches as Louis' face moves from crippling fear to something more relaxed. “I thought it was a good idea since you’re always running late.”

Relief floods through him so heavy that Louis has to fold himself over to rest his forearms against his thighs as he takes in his first full breaths in minutes. He can feel the blood come rushing back to his face when he reaches out to hold Harry’s arm like an anchor as he calms himself.

“Holy shit _._ I thought you were proposing!”

Harry raises an eyebrow at him. “With a watch?”

“No, not with a _watch_. I thought it was _ring_ ,” Louis explains, his breathless laughter causing Harry to frown deeper. “This is where we met and you had just said all of that stuff about being proud of me and loving me…I just knew you were asking me to marry you.” Louis leans back in his seat, his chest now rising and falling at normal speed.

Harry’s mouth moves several times like he’s about to speak, however nothing ever comes out. Several beats pass before anything does.

“Would it have been so horrible if I _had_ been asking you to marry me?”

Louis’ relieved grin slides off his face at Harry’s wounded tone. He rushes to correct his wording when Harry gently pulls his arm out of his reach.

“No, love. No, it’s not like that. I- I just- It’s too soon is all. I saw the box and I freaked the fuck out because I don’t want us to be ruined.” He can tell he hasn’t made it any better when Harry looks even more dejected.

“You think being my husband would ruin us?”

“No, of course not. Fuck, I’m saying it all wrong, I-” Louis takes a deep breath, carefully choosing his next words so they come out right. “Rushing into marriage is what would ruin us. I just spent the last hour and a half talking to people about knowing when you’ve found your soul mate and not fucking it up. I finally have you. I don’t want us being impatient to mess it up,” he whispers. Harry’s eyes are less unsure when Louis gently takes his hands. “I would _love_ for you to put a ring on my finger one day, I’d be honored to marry you, just not tonight,” Louis finishes with a small grin, hoping to coax one out of Harry.

It takes a minute, but he finally grins back. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Harry nods. “Yeah. I agree with you completely, I just- the way you said it and the way you looked when you thought I was proposing…you made it seem like the worst thing on Earth.”

Louis mentally slaps himself for being such a dick. “I’m so sorry for doing that to you.” He didn’t mean to make Harry feel bad, but he was panicking. He could hardly breathe let alone mind his facial expressions. He pulls Harry in by his chin, Louis doing most of the work until Harry relaxes and starts to kiss him back.

“How about we do this whole thing over?” Louis suggests where he’s resting their heads together. He’s thankful when Harry nods, grinning at him.

Harry closes the jewelry box, hiding it behind his back again as he clears his throat. Louis pretends to be preoccupied with looking at his fingernails when Harry lightly taps him on the shoulder.

“Lou?”

“Yes, darling?” He turns to Harry with a coy tilt of his head, his voice much too high and sweet to be real, but Harry giggles at him regardless.

“I got you something to commemorate the start of your second book tour. I hope you like it.”

Harry presents the black box to him again and Louis places a hand over his chest.

“Oh my,” he gasps. “For me?”

Harry rolls his eyes at him as he opens it, exposing a silver and gold clock face set into a smooth, black leather band. Louis goes to make a comment about him showing off, but now that he’s really looking at the watch he sees that his acting skills aren’t necessary.

“ _YSL?_ ” This time Louis’ shock is real, watching as Harry clasps the expensive accessory around his wrist. “Harry, you didn’t have to do this, honestly. It’s too much.”

“It’s not and I wanted to.”

Louis marvels at the way the gold plating catches the light. “But I didn’t get you anything. I’ve never given you anything this expensive.”

“I’m not the one celebrating a second bestseller. I told you I’m proud of you,” Harry whispers, as he’s pulling him closer. “So let me be.”

Louis nods, sighing into Harry when he feels his lips pressed to his.

Louis calls Niall over to see his new gift, twirling his wrist around in the air so the gold embedded on the face glints. Harry smirks as he watches him, and he’s still smirking when Niall leaves.

“What?” Louis asks, wondering what could be so amusing.

“I can’t believe you thought I was about to propose. We’re sitting on aluminum folding chairs right now. I would at least put some kind of effort into it,” he drawls.

Louis looks around, finding their surroundings perfectly adequate for a marriage proposal. “Effort like what? Niall wheeling out a cake big enough for you to pop out of?”

He laughs at that. “Maybe. Or at least use my own fucking flowers. Like I’d ask you to marry me with Liam and Sophia’s apology roses. No. When I do it, you’ll know it’s coming. I would want it to be unforgettable.”

“Well my last proposal happened on a sidewalk in front of a window box full of weeds,” he jokes. “You won’t have to do much to top that.” Louis laughs at the sad truth of his statement. Harry laughs with him, but his eyes show real concern.

“We won’t end up like you and Isaac, Lou. I’d never let that happen to us,” he promises.

“I know.”

“And I would love to be your husband, but I can wait as long as you need. Who knows, you might even propose to me first,” Harry grins.

Louis seriously doubts that, but then again he also said he’d never fall in love again and now look where he is. “If I’m proposing to you then I am _definitely_ popping out of a cake.”

“Mmmm… a ring, the promise of marriage,  _and_ dessert? Sounds delicious.” They both cackle, appreciating the fact that Louis can now laugh and joke about spending forever with him.

"Only the best for the Knight," he grins.

 

 

 

The End


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